My Princess
by Katatschia
Summary: Watching her growing up is the biggest adventure of his live. Being a good father the hardest task. But he loves it. FutureRogan, Logan POV
1. Finding Home

Disclaimer: All characters (besides Lailie) don't belong to me. Neither do brands or products that I might mention.

A/N: My first attempt at fanfiction writing. ;)

It takes me forever to get home. When they announced snow for the early evening hours, I didn't expect a middle sized snow storm to accompany me all the way from downtown Hartford to the outskirts. The 30 minute drive turns into a multi-hour escapade. I left the office at 4:30 sharp, looking forward to a nice and quiet pre Christmas Eve evening with my family. Now, at 6:45, I still have a third of the way to go and I have to rub my cold hands in front of the car's heating vent instead of the fireplace that awaits me at home.

Of course Rory was not happy, nicely said, when I called her an hour after I had left. The Huntzberger Family tradition is being disrupted by snow. I am quite happy she didn't blame me for being late, even though she told me to leave the office around noon since her mom had sensed snow for the evening. Never ever turn against your mother-in-law's prophecy, Huntzberger!

And how right she has been… Heavy snow flakes are still making their way down to earth, covering every available surface, especially the highway that is supposed to take me to my loved ones. I can't even make out the color or shape of the cars surrounding me. All I can see is the reddish shining back lights of the guy in front of me and I react whenever they moved an inch closer to my home with taking my foot from the brake.

Annoyed by the traffic reports (and the way too chipper radio reporter) announcing even more snow and traffic jams the length of the entire east coast shoreline I grab the CD case to get a more pleasant sort of entertainment. Unzipping it open, I groan when I see the first couple of discs: "Clifford the Big Red Dog," the audio book of course, "Christmas Songs with Princess Barbie," and, my all time favorite, "New and Exciting Stories from Teletubbyland". Silently cursing for, A: Rory apparently mixing up the CD cases, and B: me buying my daughter all these stupid CDs, I reach into my business case to fish for my cell. If I have all this time now, why not called some people…

"What!"

"Hello Mr. Finley, how are you this fine evening?"

"Huntz! Don't get me started! I hate snow. I hate it, I hate it, I hate it! And I hate women!"

"Whoa! Where did that come from?"

"You know how some of them, well, most of those charming creatures can talk you into anything? Yeah, I just decided I hate women! Honey, can you please go to the store and get some cranberries? Why, mate, why did I agree? Now I'm stuck somewhere in the middle of nowhere and I'm pretty sure I even missed my turn 'cause I couldn't see the sign…"

I just have to cut him off.

"Relax buddy! First, I'm very impressed of your imitation of Miranda's voice. For a moment I could have sworn it was her talking! And, believe it or not, you're not the only one stuck in snow."

"How comes? Did the lovely Lorelai not predict tonight's disaster? You got a family weather forecast and still got stuck! Ha! You just made my day!"

"Want to laugh even more? – All I got for tonight's in-car entertainment is Dora the Explorer, a variety of Sesame Street characters and all their friends that could be appealing to you if you are six."

"Wow, you've got it bad… But Dora is actually pretty hot! Have you checked the backseat for a Barbie or one of those kiddy computers? They can challenge you pretty bad…"

"Stop it and don't make me think about my daughter's toys in any dirty kind of way! That's just… sick. So…, final confirmation of holiday plans? Did you check back with Rory on dinner for the 25th?"

"Should I?"

"Finn! I called you a week ago and told you to talk to her about the time you were coming!"

"Calm down, mate, Miranda called her yesterday and everything is fine. Collin and his kin are coming as well."

"Great! And please don't spoil her again!"

"Who, Miranda!"

"No, you know who! Wait for your own kids and spoil them but don't spoil mine."

"Not fair! You know I can't deny her anything! And you're even worse than me. See, another argument for me hating women from now on."

"Lailie is six. She wouldn't be included anyhow, would she? Just promise me to keep it down this time. You know what Rory did last year."

"Oh, how could I forget your lovely wife's antics? She took half of the gifts before I could even give them to my little princess and sent them to an orphanage the very next day."

"Hey, she's my princess, not yours and just promise! Oh, I think it's moving. Say hi to Miranda and I'll see you on the 25th!"

"Fine, later, mate!"

The cars keep moving at about 10 mph, slowly but surely. I turn into the driveway around 8. Funny how all streets within the neighborhood were cleared while outside you almost wished for Santa's sleigh to be able to move a couple of yards.

"You're late!" Speaking about terrors of being confronted by a six-year-old. There she is: dirty blond hair, two pigtails, round face with rosy cheeks, plaid jumper, long sleeved polo, white pantyhose, and bunny slippers.

Her lower lip is currently sticking out in a pouting manner, she sets her hands on her hips and starts tapping with the right foot.

I adore her.

"Daddy, you're late!"

I drop my briefcase, hitting something squeaky in the process. Still wearing my coat I get down on my knees to her eye level and kiss her cheek.

"Honey, I'm very sorry I'm late. You know, I had to go and check back with Santa. I wasn't sure we sent him a change of address card when we moved earlier this year. And I'm pretty sure you would've been very sad on Christmas morning if Santa didn't stop by just because he didn't know that the nicest little girl in the world moved."

Her expression changed from pouting to gasping at my mentioning of Santa Claus and then to excited.

"Did you really stop by? Was he very busy? Did you see the reindeers? How is Rudolph? Did you get to pet him? Can I come next time? Please, Daddy, please!"

"I'm sorry Pixie, you know the rules. Children are not allowed near Santa's home 'cause…"

"…'cause they might get mixed up with the elves, I know. Mean. But Daddy, maybe I could wear a sweater that says 'I'm not an elf, so please don't mix me up'? Grandma Lorelai says she got Mom a sweater like that and then took her to see Santa's house and they didn't mix her up!"

I groan inwardly.

"Really? Huh, we have to ask your Mommy about that. Maybe she still has that sweater somewhere and you can borrow it. But you see, it's Christmas Eve tomorrow and the next day it's Christmas Morning so even if we find that sweater, Santa will be pretty busy during the next couple of days. Maybe you can go next year."

"I really hope so!"

"Great!"

I kiss her again and get up to put my coat in the closet.

"So, what did you do today, Pixie?"

She giggles and gets all excited again.

"Oh, we got off from school early today and Mommy picked me up since Anna went to Mimigan to visit her parents for Christmas…"

"Excuse me, where did she go?"

I can't imagine Lailie's nanny going to a place called 'Mimigan'.

"Mimigan! You know that state up at the big lake, we went there last year to visit great aunt Patsy."

"Ah! Michigan! Please continue." I chuckle.

"Ya, right, Michigan! Anyways, Mommy picked me up and we went to have lunch with Grandma Lorelai and I helped Sookie make Christmas cookies and then we went to buy you a Christmas present."

She finishes with a big smile and her cheeks grow even rosier from excitement.

"Oh, a present for me?" I start whispering. "So, what did you get me?"

"Oh, it is so cute, Daddy! It's a..."

"Surprise!" Rory cuts Lailie off right where it got interesting. "Lailie, I told you that it's a secret and you're not allowed to tell Daddy."

Lailie starts to fumble with her fingers.

"But Daddy asked me and you always tell me that I have to tell Daddy and you the truth."

And she smirks. The famous Huntzberger smirk. I still proclaim that she already used it when she was only a couple of month old and started screaming just to get carried around for an hour or two. I'm convinced that I saw that smirk whenever I got to the bassinet to pick her up. Nobody believed me until she was about 2 and started using her smirk and her smiling in general to get people do stuff for her. As Finn said, it's near to impossible to deny her anything.

"Yeah, Ace, right. She was just telling me the truth. Right, Pixie?"

She nods proudly but still smirking.

Sometimes I think we're giving Rory a really hard time, whenever my Pixie and I combine forces. But she loves it. Rolling her eyes she sends Lailie to wash her hands for dinner and moves on to the kitchen. I follow her.

"So, Ace, I heard you had a very nice afternoon. Lunching with your Mom, her telling Lailie funny tales on how she can go and visit Santa's house with some kind of magical sweater…"

She smiles. I love her smile. I love her.

"I have no idea what you're talking about…"

"So, you didn't have lunch with Lorelai then?"

"Oh, well, we went to Stars Hollow and we did have lunch with Mom but I have no power about what my mother tells our daughter."

"But you were right there and could've stopped her! Now I have to find a new excuse for next year why Pixie and I can't go and visit Santa."

I sigh.

She still smiles; I sense an "I-know-something-that-you-do-not-know" simile.

"Oh honey, there are moments where I dare to leave her alone with my mother. By the way, you should stop calling her Pixie. It's getting old."

"You know that is very dangerous, leaving her alone with Lorelai. We can't even imagine how many weird things she has already told her and will tell her. And I'm not going to stop calling her Pixie. She's my Pixie! Everybody calls her Lailie or Lorelai but only I call her Pixie. I've been calling you Ace for 8 years now. Don't tell me you're sick of it."

Now I'm the one smirking since my Ace looks at me wide eyed.

"God, no, please don't stop! I mean… I almost shudder whenever you call me Rory because that's when you get serious. Not that I don't like you being serious it's just…"

I cut off her rambling by turning her around and pinning her against the fridge to kiss her.

"I don't think I said a proper hello to you this fine evening…" I whisper against her ear.

She flushes.

"Hello Mr. Huntzberger." She whispers.

"Hello Mrs. Huntzberger." I whisper back.

She grabs my tie and pulls me back to her mouth. We kiss for a few seconds before we get interrupted by an "Eeeew" sound, coming from the 3-foot-tall creature hiding behind the island.

I laugh and turn to my daughter, picking her up and tickling her tummy.

"Wait, one day you'll find a prince charming to wipe you off your feet and you'll be his princess then and I will find you two kissing in the kitchen."

"Never!" She giggles. "Never ever! That's just eeew!"

I put her back down on a barstool.

"Daddy, you know I'll always be your little princess. And only yours."

Every time she looks at me with her crystal clear blue eyes, something inside me wished that this was true. She's only six and I'm already dreading the day she might no longer be my little princess.

Shaking my head to get those thoughts out of it, I pick my Pixie back up to carry her over to the dining room. She snuggles her arms around my neck and gives me a peck on my cheek.

While she climbs into her chair I peek back into the kitchen to watch Rory making dinner. Or rather watching what she calls making dinner which is more or less heating something up that was made by some restaurant, our cook or Sookie. In today's case it's the latter ones creation we're about to enjoy.

"Ace, my Ace… Every year someone gives you a cooking class gift certificate for Christmas. And still we need other people fixing us dinner since neither Lailie nor I want to die young…"

She shoots me her famous death glare and I turn around smirking, walking back to the nicely set dinner table to be entertained by my lovely daughter.


	2. Sweet Family

A/N: Thank you very much everybody who read the story and especially thanks for the nice reviews! Reviews make me smile and happy :)

Disclaimer: Again, nothing is mine and allcharacters were made up byother poeple,except for Lailie.

Later that night everybody is curled up in front of the living room fireplace. Lailie is asleep in her night gown, her back resting against my upper body. The book I read to her, the good night story that wasn't even over before she had fallen asleep, has fallen between the blankets and pillows. Rory gets up from leaning against my left shoulder and walks towards the big and colorful Christmas tree that is standing between the grand piano and the fireplace. Underneath its heavy branches there's quite an amount of artistically wrapped boxes, from tiny to big.

"Don't you dare trying to figure out what I got you!" I tell her with a determined whisper. "Besides… It isn't there anyhow."

"Mean…" I love pouting Rory.

"So…" I whisper still while I pick up my Pixie to take her upstairs. Rory is trailing behind me, picking up some toys on the way upstairs, placing them on the shelves in the playroom.

"I heard from a quite anonymous but also bubbly source that you bought me something, and I quote, 'cute and soft' for Christmas. Should I be worried? But again, you know, small key chain teddy bears are the latest fashion in the CEO world."

Again that 'I-know-something-you-don't' smirk mixed with some silent laughter.

"I sense my lovely wife is having a lot of fun with this one. Plus she's being extremely secretive about it. Hm… I might as well think… Nah."

"What? What might you as well think?"

"Nothing, my dear, nothing…"

Ah, got her! She's looking unsure, biting her lip, wondering what I'm up to while she's being Mrs. Secret.  
We've reached Lailie's door.

"Come on Mister, I'll take from here." Holding out her hands for me to hand over the sleeping beauty, but she waits for me to give the beauty a good night kiss. I tell her I can handle it and sighing, she kisses Lailie's forehead and leaves towards our bedroom.

She moves a little when I put her down on the canopy bed and cover her up with several layers of bedding. I find Mr. Bear, who is actually a yellowish bunny, hiding underneath the bed skirt, put him in her arms and tuck him in as well. She snuggles into his soft fur and smiles. Quite like her mother this one, she likes everything that is soft and cuddly. I gently wipe a few stray hairs off her forehead and place a kiss just above her right eyebrow.

"Daddy…" I hear her whisper, "please stay."

Knowing it won't be long until she's back in dreamland, I pull the ottoman nearer and sit by her side, caressing her cheek with my fingertips.

How did I ever get this lucky? Why did I deserve this wonderful life? I've done so much wrong, made so many mistakes, hurt so many people. Still, I got the two most precious things in the entire world. I'm so scared that I might lose them over some idiotic mistake I could make. Again I think about the what ifs… What if Finn and Colin had never talked any sense into me when I thought the relationship Rory and I had had been completely lost. What if she had been only a little firmer in her rejection? What if things had been even harder than they already were? What if Lailie had never happened?  
I could kick myself today for thinking once, and only one time, a long, long time ago that she was an 'accident'. Right after Rory had told me. God no, she wasn't and isn't. It wasn't the greatest timing and we could've had a lot less trouble with our families, but God, no, she was no accident.  
From the first time I saw her little heart beating on the ultrasound I was completely in love with her.  
My two girls are the most important thing in the world to me. They were definitely worth fighting the great big wolf…

A warm hand runs over my neck and sneaks around my shoulder.

"Hi there." She whispers snuggling against my neck. "Thought you might have fallen asleep…"  
I turn my head and run a hand over my eyes.

"Nah, just thinking." Getting up I take her hand and pull her up as well, she starts pulling me out of the room, aiming for our bedroom.

As I close the double doors behind me, it's her who softly forces me to stay in place and it's her who initiates some tender kisses. I notice that she lit a fire in the bedroom fireplace. As the kisses get more passionate and I manage to push her a little towards the bed, she pulls away.  
She laughs when she sees me pouting.

"Oh, poor baby…" She strokes my head as if I were a 5-year-old whose ice cream just fell in the dirt.  
Sitting down on the loveseat in front on the fireplace she motions for me to sit next to her and I comply.

Fiddling with her pajama pants drawstrings she looks at me quite nervously.

"Logan, we've got to talk."

I swallow.

"What is it, Ace?"

Calm, buddy, calm! Nothing you should worry about, right? Everything is perfect, right? Right! Should you work less hours? Nah, she hasn't said anything about that for quite some time now. Maybe it's the huge say-it-all-day? No… Right! Maybe she wants to confess the scratch in her new car, yeah, that's probably it. Phew… Nothing to worry about… Right!

She's just about to say something when I can't stand the quietness.

"No problem Ace, no problem at all. Accidents like that happen. Someone is going to get rid of it and all is well! No one will notice and everybody is happy again."

"What! How do you know about this?" she rather spats out. Her eyes are wide and I believe I just saw smoke coming out of her ears.

"The scratch…" I mumble. "The scratch in the car. That's what you wanted to tell me, right?"

"What scratch!" She almost yells and looks confused and I feel even more confused that she looks.

"The one in the BMW, are you not talking about the scratch on your new BMW?"

"No I'm not!" She's still fuming, but less than earlier.

"Ok, sorry." I hold my hands up in defense. After a couple of breath in/breath outs, she looks a little calmer. "So what is it you wanted to tell me?"

"Maybe I shouldn't…" She gets up but I grab her wrist and pull her back down.

"Rory, I'm sorry. I won't interrupt you again. It seems to be important to you, so it will probably be important for me, so please, just say it."

"Logan I can't…"

"Rory!"

"Fine, I… You know, when Lailie was… Well, when I got…" I raise my eyebrows. My Ace has lost her ability to speak. Such a sad world.

Breath in –  
"You know, when I got pregnant with Lailie how everything was kind of head over heels. Keeping our families from killing you, me, us, getting engaged, eloping, keeping our families from killing us when they found out about the eloping part…"

All the sudden I get nervous. Is she going to divorce me?

"…finishing Yale, you fighting with your dad, Lailie being born during the hottest week for 50 years, you fighting with your dad again and finally coming to an agreement with him, which I by the way never quite understood, the new job, moving 3 times during the last 6 years… It was a pretty hectic time, right?"

I nod, since she's apparently looking for some kind of confirmation, but I still don't have a clue where this is heading.

"And you know I love you…" Buh-bye divorce anxiety!

"To make this short…" – Yes, please – "I'm pregnant!"

Blank.

Wow.

This woman is driving me nuts, making me question everything I've done for the last 8 years and in the end, she's pregnant!

"Wow, Ace, this is…" I feel how my face lightens up and I must look like a lovesick puppy. And suddenly it hits me. "…Shit!"

"What! Please not again, Logan, please don't!"

She jumps up and runs, I'm not fast enough to catch her wrist this time. So I run after her and captivate her in my arms before she has the chance to run out the door. She kicks and turns and tries to get out.

"Listen, Rory, listen to me!" I see tears running down her cheeks as she stops kicking but still refuses to look at me.

"I'm sorry, God, I'm sorry! I didn't mean it! It's just…"

"What, another accident?" This cuts right were it hurts, I almost let her slip out of my arms.

"No, the most wonderful thing in the world!"

This time she looks at me skeptically. The look softens a little and I let her go. "But why…?"

"It's just… What I said before. I'm sorry about what I said, thinking you were talking about the scratch, about getting rid of it and it being an accident. I finally understand why you got so upset at first! Please, please don't think that I see this as an accident. It's more than I ever hoped for!"

I feel so desperate. I'm about to fall on my knees and beg her for forgiveness.

"Oh Logan… Come here!"

We hug. I still feel crappy about what I said.

"Please never tell my son I said 'Shit' when you told me about him." I mumble into her neck. I feel her chuckle.

"No, I won't… We should just go to bed. It has been a long day." She runs her hands across my chest and suddenly stops.

"How do you know we're having a boy? I'm only 8 weeks along, too early to tell."

"You know, Darling," I say as I move towards the bed, pulling her behind, "a man simply knows!"

Softly chuckling she gets in next to me. I'm happy.


	3. The Waking Hours

It's still early, the sun is starting to peak through the blinds. I have my head propped up on my left arm, watching her breathing evenly. I've been doing a great deal of thinking during the night since I couldn't sleep very well. The mixture of happiness about a new baby and the guilty feelings I have for reacting like an a… kept me awake. I'm pretty sure everything will be easier this time, not as hectic as it was when Lailie was born. Looking forward to enjoying a pregnant Rory without her having to finish some last minute assignment for a class, I smile. There are so many things we need to talk about. But not now, after the holidays.

Her arms are spread above her head. Gently I move the tank top a little up and the bedding a little lower, exposing her tummy. I start tracing a path around her belly button, knowing this will wake her eventually.   
Amazing, how we could create another life that is currently growing just an inch underneath my fingertips.   
I move to kiss her belly and whisper "Hey there buddy" to my son. I'm convinced I'm going to have a son. I really, really love my daughter, but every man needs a son to pass on his knowledge about women. Although, well, even though that knowledge might have worked for me on quite a number of occasions, it sure got me into a lot of trouble. I make a mental note to keep him away from Finn as soon as he's capable to understand what Uncle Finn is talking about.

After some more kisses on her exposed skin, I feel how Rory stirs.

"Happy Christmas Eve Morning Ace!"

"Too early… Go away, or get me coffee…"   
She mumbles, barely audible to me. But since it's old procedure, I know what the sound was about and laugh as she pulls the covers back up and turns away from me.

"Unfortunately, my dear, after last nights confession it's my job as a future daddy to keep you away from all caffeinated beverages in order to protect my son."

I take the growling as a hint that my Ace doesn't at all agree about this very well meant intention.

I'm about to get up when I hear the small sound of the door falling back into the lock. Peeking around the footboard, I see Lailie crawling on the soft carpet towards the bed. She giggles and jumps up to run towards me when she realizes I caught her sneaking in.

"Hey princess! Breaking into other people's bedroom so early in the morning?"   
She giggles again and motions for me to lift her up on the bed.

"Good morning Daddy!"   
I like it how she kisses my cheek and pulls back to tell me to go and shave. Just like her mom.

"What about Mommy? You forgot all about the woman who gave you life?"

Ah! Ace graces us with her presence!   
Lailie starts jumping up and down on the bed and lets herself fall right between Rory and I.

"You're making Mommy seasick!"

"Seasick? But I thought Daddy always makes you seasick when he takes the boat out."

Yes, that's my girl. "Keep on telling, Honey. What else does Mommy say about Daddy?"

"Nothing!" Mean Ace, always interrupting her when it gets interesting.

I watch as mother and daughter share their traditional morning cuddling.   
After a couple of sweet kisses, Lailie crawls back into my lap.

"You know Pixie," I start and smile at Rory, "next year at Christmas, there will be another person celebrating with us."

"Really? Who? Is Aunt Paris coming?"  
Wow, she looks scared.

I chuckle.   
"No, Pixie. Your little brother or sister will join us next year!"

"Oh, him! Yeah, isn't that exciting? – Oh no! I forgot!"

While I look between her and Rory, dumbstruck, she quickly crawls over to Rory, moves the covers, presses a kiss to her belly and says "Good morning little baby brother!"

Whoa! What is this all about?

"Ace, care to explain how my six year old daughter knows about her brother when I just learned last night?"

Rory smirking is rather rare. She usually uses her very cute smirk whenever she's up to something. Since she's the more 'open' one in our relationship, usually telling me things, and I'm the secretive guy, always planning something or having (positive) secrets, she sees my smirk way more often than I hers.

All I can do is shake my head. No male can fight girl power and mother/ daughter secrets. I lean over to kiss her and whisper "I'm very, very happy!" into her ear while Lailie is putting her ear against Rory's tummy to check it for baby sound.

"Does Lorelai know, too?" I still whisper.

"Not yet. I'm planning on telling them when they come over before we have to go to Grandma's house."

I nod and smile, though not about the Grandma part.

"I heard it! I just heard the baby!" Lailie proclaims happily.

I, having a little more experience with baby sounds than her, heard the sound too, but detected it as more of a hunger sound than anything else.  
Smiling, I tell Lailie to go find her slippers and her robe and ask Jackie for some breakfast. I glance over at the alarm clock, 8:45, she should be in by now.

Fast as a lightening, well, a pink lightening, she's out the door looking left and right for her bunny slippers.  
Just when I'm about to get up, for the second time today, Rory grabs my arm and pulls me back. I like it when she does that.  
Hm… If she keeps on doing that I might never make it out of bed today… But I have to. Lailie and I have a mission to accomplish, our secret Christmas tradition, that even Rory doesn't know about.

"Good Morning Mr. Huntzberger."

"Good Morning Mrs. Huntzberger."

I believe I can fly… She tenderly bites my lip and moves her way down my throat. Wait, the shower is calling. One last peck on the lips and I finally manage my way out of the softness of our bed, heading towards the bathroom, leaving her sighing sweetly.  
After switching on the shower I walk back to grab a towel from the linen closet.   
Rory is still lying in bed, arms around my pillow, slumbering off again. This is the only time of the day when a Gilmore ignores food. Sleep's victory over food! Well, as I said, only during the early morning hours.  
It is amazing how much I still learn about her.

I remember how she said 'You've got a magical life Huntzberger and you don't even know it'. It was a long time ago, back when we were not really dating, the 'lost' days, as I sometimes call them.   
If she thought my life was magical then… Well, I think now, my life is close to perfect, maybe even more than perfect. And God, I'm scared, I'm so scared it's not going to last.

Lailie is sitting at the kitchen island, eyes fixed on the TV across the counter, her hand shoveling cereal into her mouth. Nothing is more important that Mickey's White Christmas and food. I open the fridge to get some orange juice only to smile and run my hand through my hair when I see the filled fruit and vegetable container. Usually, there's hardly any healthy food whenever the cook is on a break for holidays or during summer break. Remembering that she got off earlier this week since she had to go to… where again? Right, California. Since she's gone, there shouldn't be any healthy food. Rory and grocery shopping are not friends, she usually buys more junk food than actual edible stuff, in my opinion.   
But I remember when she was pregnant with Lailie and we went to the store to get some food. That was the first (and up to now last) time in my life that I saw her buying fruit and vegetables. Just after the first trimester she started eating apples and grapes as if they were out of chocolate. Carrot sticks for breakfast and cucumbers for dinner. With June and July coming around and the due date, 1st week of August, getting closer, I had to go buy a huge watermelon every other day.

Thinking about this, maybe there will be another wave of healthy food hitting our diet. Wonder what my Pixie will say about this since she's just as big a junk food junkie as her mother and her grandmother.

"Hey Pix?" She won't take her eyes off the TV. "Pixie!"

"Huh?" Ah, for an entire third of a second she devotes her attention to me.

"I know Mickey is a really cool guy and they are having a lot of fun, but you know where we have to go, right? You still remember what we do the morning before Christmas Eve, don't you?"

"Ya! Sure! Oh!" Mickey is forgotten and I see the pink whirlwind run out the French doors towards the stairs.   
"I'll be really quick Daddy, I promise!"

Chuckling I take the cereal bowl and put it in the sink just when I see Jackie coming through the basement door, carrying a laundry basket.

"Morning Jackie!"   
"Sir! Good morning!"

Jackie Green is in her mid fifties, a little shorter than Rory, short dark hair that is turning slightly gray which you are not allowed to mention around her. She's like your favorite aunt: very much loveable but also very determined.

I take the basket from her and set it on the kitchen counter.

"Jackie, I think there isn't a lot more for you today. It's going to be a slow day here. I bet you have tons of stuff to do before your kids get home tonight."

"But Sir, there's so much laun…"

"Don't worry about it! We still have clothes to wear over the holidays, there are plenty of dry towels and Lailie won't need her school uniforms until January. Plus, I actually know how to work the washing machine. At least I think so."

"But I'm sure Mrs. Huntzberger needs some help with the last minute Christmas preparations…"

"Nah, she'll manage. You just go home and enjoy the holidays! I don't want to see you again until the 27th, agreed?"

"But…!"

"No buts!" I start guiding her to the closet, holding her coat for her to put on.

"I want you to go home, send our best wishes for the holidays to Mr. Green and your kids and their families and even to Russell and relax for a couple of days."

She sighs. "Fine. But only if you're positive about this!"

"Yes, I am. Completely sure and absolutely positive! Now! Out!"   
I smile at her and she smiles back.

"Merry Christmas Mr Huntzberger!"

"Merry Christmas Jackie!"

The door is almost closed behind her when I remember the gift basket. Checking the hall closet for the right one, I sprint to the door and catch her right before she gets in her car.

"From my wife, my daughter and me."

Her cheeks turn red and she beams. "Thank you so much, Sir! You didn't have to do this. Thank you so much!"

"You are very welcome. Thank you for everything you do for us."  
I remember something else.

"Oh, but it's connected to a little favor…"

"A favor?"

"Yes, you see… Rory, my wife, she shouldn't have coffee any more. So whenever she asks you about it, don't give her any or replace it with decaf."

"But Mrs. Huntzberger loves coffee… I don't know… You know what happens when we run out of it."

I chuckle, everybody is 'afraid' of Rory when she's on a caffeine low.  
"I know, but just try. She shouldn't be drinking coffee and she knows it. Don't let her talk you into making any. It's bad for her and the ba-"

"Oh my! She's pregnant!"

She drops the basket and hugs me enthusiastically. Realizing what she's doing, she steps back.

"I'm sorry Sir, I didn't mean to be disrespectful… It's just…! Congratulations!"

I grin. "No problem. Thank you, Jackie. Happy Holidays!"


	4. Mall Encounters

We enter the mall around 11 a.m. The place is packed with people who are overloaded with bags and boxes. Why do people have to push all Christmas shopping to the very last minute?  
Children are crying, overwhelmed by everything that is going on. Women are chasing after their husbands who can't take it anymore and want to wait in the car.

A couple of years ago, when Rory and I went Christmas shopping mid December, the mall we went to had a husband and boyfriend kindergarten. When she got sick of me complaining about how much time we had already spent at that mall, she sent me off to the kindergarten and I had an amazing time with the other guys, drinking scotch and playing poker.  
I was all excited to join her again last year, just to go back to kindergarten. Unfortunately they didn't have it last year and I had to sit, or rather stand, through 5 hours of never ending Christmas shopping. The thing that hurt most last year, was seeing how her credit card actually broke halfway through the shopping escapade, due to excessive usage.

Lailie holds on to my hand tightly. She doesn't like big crowds and is always afraid of getting lost. When an extremely large crowd marches in our direction, she looks really scared and I pick her up.

"Honey, everything is fine! You won't get lost, ok?"

She nods and hugs my neck.

"Besides, you're six now, you're a big girl." I smile. "You can't expect me to carry you around like you are still four."

This works. Four-year-old are still babies, if you ask her.

She giggles and I set her down since the crowd has passed. Taking my hand again, she pulls me towards our destination, Santa Claus.

Of course this isn't her first visit to Santa this year. Every year when we are spending the weekend after Thanksgiving with Honor and Josh in New York, we take her to see Macy's Santa Clause. She loves it and I am very happy that she still believes.

But three years ago, when Rory wanted to get rid of Lailie and me, claiming we were just in her way and kept her from her last minute Christmas preps, I took her to see Santa on Christmas Eve morning and we have been doing this ever since, without Rory knowing. I told Lailie that this was the perfect opportunity to tell Santa again that she has been a perfect little girl and she's looking forward to Christmas morning.

We have to wait for almost an hour to see him. I wait outside the little green fences while she chats with the white bearded man. She looks very sincere and he laughs about what she's telling him.

I notice the rather nice looking female elves that chat with the daddies here and there. I wonder when Finn is getting himself a kid, maybe just 'borrowing' Lailie, just to be able to talk to them.

"They are pretty hot, aren't they?"

I feel an arm hanging around my shoulder and – thinking about the devil – I'm surprised to see Mr Finley himself standing next to me.

Shaking my head I greet him.

"Finn, this is Santa Claus, there are about forty kids just 2 yards away, waiting to see him. And you talk about how-"

"Calm down mate! Fatherhood apparently really affected your manhood."

I send him a death glare and am about to slap him on the back of his head when I hear Lailie's voice calling me.

"Daddy! Come over and take a picture with Santa and me!"

Still growling at Finn I jump over the fence to comply to my daughter's wishes.  
I watch Finn checking out the elf taking the picture but smile nonetheless. We don't want a bad picture just because Uncle Finn can't behave.

Lailie is already in Finn's arms when I come back from receiving the pick up slip.

"Mate, did you get her phone number?" Same old Finn… And I thought he might change for good when Miranda got him to settle down a couple of years ago.  
She's not mad with him whenever he does stupid stuff, because she knows at the end of the day he'll be at home with her, without lipstick stains on face or collar and still smelling like the after shave he used in the morning.

Lailie giggles.  
"Uncle Finny, they don't have phones where Santa lives!"

He looks at her and grins.  
"Huh, not? Well then, what a loss for mankind."

She has learned to ignore Uncle Finn's comments, whenever she doesn't understand what he's talking about.  
Winding in his arms to get him to put her down, she peeks at the bags and boxes at his feet.

"Uncle Finny, did you buy anything for me?"

"Of course, love! All this stuff-"

"…will be in an orphanage by the 26th" I hiss in his ear.

He gulps.

"Well, lovely Lailie, all this stuff – is not for you." She looks sad and I know Finn's heart is about to break and he's about to give in. He kneels down to her and I can barely understand what he's whispering.

"Of course I got something for you. But don't tell your Mommy, she'd be mad with me and we don't want Mommy to be mad with Uncle Finn, right?"

She giggles as his breath tickles her ear but smiles and nods eagerly.

How men behave whenever they are around girls, especially little girls, I will never understand. And I'm worse than Finn.  
Colin found a pretty good rhythm with saying no and giving in. His two boys, 4 and 2 years old, still give him a pretty hard time sometimes, especially whenever the older one plays some tricks on him and Steph. It is really hard for him to go and tell Henry that whatever he did was bad since he actually loves him doing funny stuff since it reminds him so much about what we used to do when we were about that age.

But boys are easier, I believe. Girls tend to jinx you, wrap you around their pinkie. From a very tender age on, they know exactly how to work their way into your heart and even better how to get you to buy toys, let them stay up late, and get you to let them watch movies instead of insisting on her practicing the violin or doing finger exercises on the piano.  
Although, I remember when Henry was about two, Colin went out to buy all kinds of toys that are supposed to be manly. Tiny tool sets, baseball mittens, one of those toy cars big enough for kids to actually sit in and drive around using their feet to move them… Of course Henry was still too young for the stuff and we kept playing with it only to be laughed at by our respective ladies.  
Ok, girls jinx you and boys make you behave like 4-year-olds again, buying them toys you would have loved to have when you were their age. Life is hard.

We've made our way to a restaurant within the mall. Lailie speeds off to the playground area as Finn and I sit down.

"Man, she's getting so tall…" He says, looking after her.

"Don't tell me! Guess who has to pay for new shoes and clothes all the time."

He grins at me. I know that grin.  
"Mate, you've turned into a softie!"

How right he is.

"If you had told me 10 years ago that you'd be happily married and father of a precious 6-year-old at the age of not quite 30, I wouldn't be here since I would've laughed myself to death."

He glances up and down the menu, choosing something, and then placing the menu back on the table.

"So, what healthy stuff will you have this time? It's amazing how you turn into a heath nut whenever your lovely wife does not grace us with her presence."

I start smirking when I remember my encounter with all the fruit earlier today.

"You know what, Finn? I think this is about to change. Ace might be interested in changing her diet pretty soon."

He looks at me, knitting his brows, "The last time I saw lovely Rory eat something healthy voluntarily, she was about to pop a child out the very next day."

I make a face at his recollection of my daughter's birth but smirk a second later.  
"Well, that might very well be the case…"

"Oh no, don't tell me she's pregnant again!" He moves his hand in a praying manner, of course not without the necessary theatrical drama in his voice.

It's a pity Finn got kicked out of drama class in high school when he started hitting on the substitute teacher, he might have been a great actor.

"Yes, my friend, I believe it is so."

He winks at me and slaps my shoulder.  
"Well done mate!"

The waitress comes to take our orders. Finn requests two cigars to celebrate the happy occasion. Unfortunately for him, it's a non smoking restaurant.

Leaning back into his arms folded behind his head he starts talking again.  
"I didn't know you were planning on adding a new Huntz to the family."

"Oh, well, we weren't really, it's more or less-"

"An ac-?"

I throw him scolding glance.

"Don't you dare say the 'a' word."

"Easy there, mate. I was about to say 'actually happy surprise'."

"Yeah, right…"

He smirks but gets thoughtful.

"I always thought Rory was on the pill. Surprises like that don't happen very often if you're-"

"Finn, please! I don't feel comfortable discussing my wife's birth control with you, especially not in public!"  
I hiss across the table.

He smirks again.

"Ok, well, still… Maybe she wanted it. You know, with Lailie growing up so fast, maybe she just wants another little one to cuddle."

Glancing over at Lailie I think about he just said.

"Nah, she would have told me, if she wanted to have another baby. Why should she keep it a secret? She knows I've been thinking about this since Lailie was three."

Finn shrugs his shoulders and the topic is being discarded when the food arrives and I go to get Lailie.

All through lunch she tells Finn how school has been, how she likes her violin teacher but hates the piano teacher, about what she wants for Christmas and how she's really excited about her baby brother as he keeps nodding, making funny faces and comments that make her laugh.

My thoughts keep wandering back to what Finn said, about Rory planning on getting pregnant. But why should she not tell me about it? She knows that I wanted another baby, thus she shouldn't have been 'afraid' to tell me about her plans. When I told her about it 3 years ago, she told me she wanted to wait since she had just started her new job. I agreed and never touched the subject again, thinking she'd tell me whenever she felt ready to have another baby, expecting her to know that I'd be 'In Omnia Paratus'. So this surprise is not just a surprise to me, right? It took her off guard, too, right?

Finn leaves us after lunch, telling me he has some more shopping to do. I hope this is not due to Lailie reciting her entire Christmas wishes list to him. I'm especially worried about the 'I want a kitten' part. Rory will be so happy about this!

On the way to pick up the Santa pictures, we pass a boutique for children.

"Hey, Pixie, how about we buy your little baby brother or sister a Christmas present?"  
She gets all excited about this idea.

"Yes, Daddy, please! But you know what?" I shake my head and kneel down to her.

"I'm going to have a baby brother! I know it! I asked Santa for a baby brother when we went to visit Aunt Honor."

Huh, how about that.

"You asked Santa for a baby brother? What did he tell you?"

"Oh, he said he'd try but couldn't promise anything since you'd have to agree about it. And when I saw him this morning, I thanked him about it, even though he delivered it a little early."

Chuckling I stand up and take her hand to enter the shop. Sometimes I believe, I got the most unique kind of girl in the entire world. But I wouldn't want it any different.

We find a cute little one-piece, white with a blue collar and blue cuffs. It has stitching that says "My Little Baby Brother" written in cursive across the chest.  
I just hope our intuition doesn't fool us and the baby brother turns out to be a baby sister.

Lailie finds a little bunny shaped rattle that she wants to get him as well.

While browsing around the store a little longer, of course, it happens again. Abruptly stopping, Lailie sees a dress, the perfect dress, as she will say later.  
When she looks up to me with her big blue eyes – why on earth does she have her mother's eyes? I sigh and send her off to the dressing room to go try it on. And, of course, it fits perfectly.

Considering the almost given sour face of one Emily Gilmore when she realizes her great-granddaughter is not wearing red and green for Christmas but rather a white dress with a big pink bow in the back I go and buy it. If Emily Gilmore can make us spend Christmas Eve at her fort, I can make her miserable.  
Lailie, oblivious to my plotting against Grammy, is just happy about her new dress.


	5. To Plan Or Not To Plan

On the way home from the mall, my Pixie finds the discs I found the night before actually to be great entertainment. Watching the still icy road with Barbie's Christmas carols playing and a constantly giggling girl in the back seat is not an easy job.

She jumps out of the car as soon as we've reached our final destination, the garage, to show Mommy her new dress – wow, Mommy will be mad, but hopefully not very long . I circle Rory's SUV. And right there, at the rear end of the passenger's side, I spot it: the scratch. It is not a very big one but it sure got me into some trouble last night. Funny, she scratches her car and I get in trouble.

Again I have to think about Finn's implication. Did she plan on getting pregnant? But why would she not tell me?  
It's a vicious circle. I plan on asking her about it. Later.

A glance at my watch tells me it's already 2:30. Lunch with Finn and the unplanned Christmas shopping for Baby Huntzberger took longer that I had planned. After grabbing the gift box from the boutique and another couple of bags from my trunk, I quickly lock the car and enter the house through the side door, closing the door that Lailie left open.

"I thought you got lost in the snow again! Hey, Honey!"

Rory is sitting at the breakfast counter, labeling various gifts for Lorelai, Luke, her siblings, and the Grumpys.

When Lailie started calling her great-grandmother 'Grammy' and Richard 'Grampy', I somehow turned it into 'the Grumpys' whenever Rory and I would talk about her grandparents. She thought it was funny but threatened to kill or even castrate me if she ever heard Lailie refer to her great-grandparents as 'the Grumpys'.

"No, Ace, not this time. But I intend to get lost before we get to your grandparent's house tonight."

She rolls her eyes.  
"Please not again! It didn't work last year and I had to talk her out of sending us a car to pick us up this year. Plus…" She looks up and seems to be rather mad… wonder why…  
"A cheery little girl just passed through here, showing me a lovely white and pink dress that her soon-to-be-killed father apparently bought her today to wear to the Christmas Even dinner tonight. What's your defense?"

I knew it and start smirking.

"Oh, really? It was white and pink? Could have sworn it was red and green when we left the store. Huh, how about that…"

Death glare.

"Honey… You know what I think about Emily forcing everybody to wear red and green for Christmas. Pixie loves this dress! We can just tell her that she spilled jam on the other one just before we left."

"And why would Lailie eat jam just before Christmas Eve dinner?"

"Because she was hungry."

"And why couldn't she wait?"

"Because if kids go hungry for a certain amount of time, it impacts their growth. And Emily doesn't want her to always be that small, does she?"

Rory growls, it's so cute when she can't find a suitable retort.

"Fine," she says reluctantly but smiles, "I believe she got strawberry scent soap on it when she was washing her hands just before we left."

I lean over the counter and kiss her. "I love it when you join my little plots to overthrow Emily Gilmore's regime."

She sighs again. "Now, where is my dress? I hope that one has at least some red and some green in it."

It has become tradition that whenever there is a big occasion, I get her a new dress. Of course I wasn't allowed to pick the dress she wore to the wedding that was forced upon us after Lailie's birth. Neither Rory not I liked it very much, but it didn't matter since we had already been married for 6 months when we got married for the second time. Other people wait 40 years to renew their wedding wows, we just waited half a year.

Smiling I lift up one of the bags I brought in with me.  
"No, darling. Your dress will be approved of, as will my tie. I figured it hard to come up with an explanation to why you would get jam on your dress."

She laughs and takes the bag, peeking inside to get a glance at the designer.

"Oh my, Mr Huntzberger, Chanel. I'm impressed! You know what's sad?"

"What Ace?"

"I'll be too big to fit into any of my stuff in a month or two. I'll be huge and fat and ugly and I'll have to wear tents to cover up my enormous belly."

I laugh about her miserable face, knowing how she loved being pregnant the first time but hated the belly that was always in her way. This brings me back to my earlier thoughts…

"Hey Ace?"  
Her 'hm' sound implies that she might be listening to me while she's still writing name tags.

"You didn't plan on getting pregnant, did you?" Ouch, wrong words, Huntzberger.

"I mean, you are as surprised as I am about it, or were you hoping to get pregnant?"

"What do you mean, Logan?" She looks a little uneasy and starts fiddling with the pen, avoiding my eyes.

"Just… If you wanted to get pregnant and stopped taking birth control or if this was really an accident that happened even though you were on the pill. You would have told me if you wanted to have another baby, if you were ready for it, right?"

She winces a little when I use the bad 'a' word that is supposed to be officially banned from any talk about babies within this family since last night. But I'm really determined to find out. When Finn mentioned the possibility earlier, I didn't believe it. But her reaction makes be think differently.

"See, Logan," she starts but get's interrupted by the phone.

"We are not finished talking about this," I state, as I go and pick up the phone.

"Hello?"

"Ah, favorite son-in-law! Merry Christmas!"

I glance over to Rory, who is still sitting on the barstool, looking nervous. I don't know if I should feel bad about this.

"Merry Christmas to you too, Lorelai!"

She looks up and moves over to me.

"Thanks! Hey… Is everything alright? You sound… tense?"

"Nah, nothing." Wow, she's good. "Pixie just accidentally spilled some strawberry scented soap over her Christmas dress and unfortunately we had to get her another one since Jackie left early today. It is such a pity that all red and green dresses were sold out…"

I wink at Rory who smiles when she hears Lorelai laughing.

"That is very sad indeed! Now, would my daughter be available or are you holding her hostage, forcing her to bake Christmas cookies from scratch?"

Chuckling about Lorelai's antics, I pass the phone to Rory and leave the slightly tense atmosphere of the kitchen to go check on Lailie.

She's sitting by the Christmas tree, carefully shaking every box.

I clear my throat, her head shoots around and she's looking at me like a deer caught in headlights. Or rather like a little girl caught in the act of sneaking around Christmas gifts.

"I… didn't… I was just… Eh… I love you Daddy!" She jumps up and hugs me around the waist.

Raising my eyebrow I look at her skeptically.  
"Pixie, my Pixie. What am I supposed to do with you? You know I already talked to Santa yesterday so maybe it's too late to call him and tell him you were naughty, thus, I will let it pass this time. But you better get upstairs and change before I change my mind!"

Smiling happily, she starts skipping towards the stairs and is soon gone.

Rory sticks her head through the dining room doorway, phone still attached to one ear.

"Hey… Um, Mom asks when they should come over."

Sighing I check my watch.  
"It's 3 now, I sent Pixie up to change a minute ago, I'm rather quick, you say, how much time do you need to look even more beautiful?"

I think this eliminated the uneasiness about the kitchen incident on her side since she smiles at me and tells her mom to be at our house around 4:00, knowing they won't be here until 4:30. I, however, still wonder about her strange behavior. Assuming that she, indeed, planned on getting pregnant, I still don't know why she didn't tell me.

Back in the kitchen I pick up the last bags and boxes and put them under the tree. After a last glance at the gift tag that says 'Baby Huntzberger' I go upstairs to check if Lailie is actually changing or if she got sidetracked by the playroom.


	6. Miracles

I'm all set around 3:55. With Rory still in the bathroom, Lailie occupying herself in the playroom, and Lorelai probably just leaving Stars Hollow, I take the opportunity to go over some mail in our home office.  
It's a big room that Rory and I share. I find the mail in a basket on the sideboard.  
There are some business letters, advertising, catalogues that I'm sure I never ordered although they are addressed to me, and some last minute Christmas cards. The address label on a big brown envelope catches my eye. 'Dr Jones Fertility Clinic, Boston, MA'. Another glance tells me it's addressed to 'Mr. and Mrs. Logan Huntzberger'. I have never heard about this clinic.  
It can't be advertising. Why should a fertility clinic send out information out to couples who are perfectly capable of producing children as recently proved? Especially in such a big envelope.  
Nope.  
Maybe they are asking for donations. But again, usually they use smaller envelopes for that kind of mail.  
Nope.  
Did Rory request information from them? Why should she? And why should she have it sent to 'Mr and Mrs. Logan Huntzberger' and not to 'Mrs. Rory Huntzberger'?  
Nope.  
Or… No, that can't be. She wouldn't have gone to that clinic for a fertility test, right? Why would she?  
This is confusing.  
Sensing Rory wouldn't want me to open it, I put it back in the basket and leave the room.

This baby business is getting too mysterious for my taste. But I don't want another fight with her about it. It's Christmas, time of love and forgiveness. She is pregnant and that's all that matters for now. I am very positive that I'm the father and that I am absolutely happy about this. How and when and why she got pregnant can be discussed after the holidays.

I go and check on Lailie who is still in her playroom which is right next to the home office.  
Not wanting to disturb her reading session for bears and bunnies, I go downstairs to find something to occupy myself with, something to stay away from thoughts about Baby Huntzberger.  
I really have to stop calling him or her Baby Huntzberger. Though I really hope it's a 'he', otherwise we'd have to make babies until we got a 'he' to put him in the one-piece we bought earlier.Lailie's 'work in progress' name was 'Pixie', which got somehow stuck. I came up with it after seeing an ultra-sound picture that showed my child, we didn't know yet if boy or girl, as a pile of pixels, thus 'Pixie'.

The basement seems a good place to go since I need to get some real champagne and some fake champagne. Finn brought the fake one back from his father's vineyard in Australia. It looks exactly like real stuff, even the bottle, except for the label that says 'Lailie's Champagne'. It's sparkling white grape juice. Tonight there will be four people drinking it. Lailie, Willy, Emma, and Rory because of Ba- I really need to find him a 'work in progress' name.

I don't know what to do, I don't know what to think. I can't keep my thoughts away from her and him. Knowing there will be another baby in this house by summer but wondering how everything happened at the same time gives me a weird feeling in my stomach. I'm so, so happy about it but see the dark cloud hovering above my head. It's like sunshine and rain having a battle and the result is a very weak forecast about what might happen.

That is why I am relieved, when I hear the doorbell ringing and little feet running down the stairs. Christmas has officially begun.

--  
The kids are happy about their gifts. Lailie proudly holds up the sweater that Lorelai got her, of course it's a 'I'm not an elf, so please don't mix me up' sweater, excited about being able to go to visit Santa's house.

"Ah Lorelai!" I say smiling, "I take it you're the one to take her then?"

She shakes her head eagerly and raises her eyebrows.

"No, my friend... that has always been the Daddy's job and will always be the Daddy's job. Grandmas are not allowed to take their granddaughters, that's the law."

I roll my eyes and see the 5-year-old twins, my brother- and sister-in-law, approaching their Dad.

"Daddy!" Willy exclaims, "if Logan can take Lailie to see Santa, can you take us, too?"

Emma holds on tightly to the new doll that Rory got for her and nods her head approvingly.

"Yes Daddy! We wanna go see Santa!"

"Santa, Santa…" Starts the underage-choir, including Lailie.

Luke growls at Lorelai who looks at him with an innocent smile. She loves watching Luke be a daddy.  
He looks at the group of kids, demanding to visit Santa, not knowing what to tell them.

Finally: "Ok, I will take you! But only if Logan takes Lailie!"

"Oh come on! Now it's going to be my fault if they can't go!"   
Smirking I get up from the couch.

"Well, maybe we should drink to that. Give me a sec and I'll be back with the champagne."

When I get back to the room, balancing two trays with glasses, one for the underage crowd and pregnant ladies, the other one for the folks who have to have the real stuff to survive the night, Lorelai and Rory are already picking up discarded wrapping material and empty boxes.

"Hey, there is still a wrapped one from the kid's pile." Lorelai yells over the kid's noises, bending down to pick it up. I recognize the box and I guess it's time to show and tell… "And the nametag says…" Three pairs of big blue eyes stare at her expectantly, hoping for another gift.  
Lorelai hesitates and looks at Rory. "It says 'Baby Huntzberger'."

Emma and Willy are disappointed, the adults are quiet and only Lailie beams and announces:  
"Oh that is for my baby brother!"

Now all eyes are on her as she looks at us in a 'what-did-I-do?' manner.

Emma is the next one to speak.  
"But Lailie, you don't have a baby brother!"

"Not yet! But soon." She retorts, as if it's the most logical thing on earth.

"Oh my God, Rory! You're pregnant!" Lorelai drops everything and jumps over to hug Rory who is smiling brightly.

"Yes, I am! Isn't that exciting?"

"Wow! Yes! A miracle! Especially after all the-"

"Mom," Rory hisses and glances at me.

Miracle? Miracle! Why does Lorelai think this is a miracle, and 'especially after all' what! This is getting too much for me…

The ladies are whispering among themselves.

"Congratulations, Son!" Luke pats my shoulder, I didn't expect this.

"Thanks." I smile absentmindedly.

Lorelai turns towards me, wiping a tear from her right eye.  
"Now what about that champagne, Daddy of two?"

She beams at me.

My weak fake smile is still present and I offer her some of the real stuff as Luke distributes the fake stuff.

"To the newest family addition!" Lorelai exclaims.

Again I have to clear my head of millions of thoughts running through it. Why was Lorelai wiping away a tear? Is this some kind of female reaction to pregnancies or just Lorelai's reaction to Rory's 'miracle' pregnancy?

Breath in… breath out.

"To Huntzberger Junior!" I say and clink glasses with everybody, looking Rory straight in the eyes.  
She's radiating due to her happiness. Breathtaking beauty.

With a small smile upon her lips she leans towards me and whispers. "How do you like Junior as the new 'work in progress' name?" I nod and kiss her.

It's happening. It's real. But I really want to get rid of that uneasiness that I keep trying to push to the farthest part of my head.


	7. Patio Confessions

I'm driving my car with a tiny kindergarten singing along to Barbie's Christmas carols. The CD got stuck in the player earlier, so that's what I'll have to live with for the rest of my life, or at least until I can take it to get it fixed after the holidays.

Or maybe I should sell the car like that; it's a very unique car that will only play Barbie's Christmas carols, all year round. Nah, I like my car.

Rory decided to ride with Lorelai and Luke to chat a little about Junior, thus the kindergarten in my car. I wish it would have been the other way round. We have to talk about this. I really have to talk about this. Maybe she doesn't realize how much all of this is bothering me.

"Hey Daddy?" Lailie pulls me from my thoughts as she pulls on my sleeve. I glance over to her sitting in the passenger's seat.

"Yes, Pixie?"

"Daddy, why do we have to go to Grammy's house? It's so boring!"

"Because Pixie, it's what we always do for Christmas Eve! We go and visit Grammy and Grampy, you behave nicely, and they give you gifts and food. And when we get back home, you get one present from Mommy and Daddy and when you wake up in the morning; Santa has filled your stocking and brought some gifts."

"True."

Her sighing is the cutest thing in the world. Very sincere, as if she just realized she can't accomplish world peace or, in my case, overpower Emily Gilmore.

"But Daddy," she tries again, "Santa already got me my gift, my baby brother. That's all I wanted for Christmas. And since he already did his part, we can just skip everything else, ok?"

Laughing I say: "Pixie, you are one-of-a-kind!"

"What is that, Daddy?"

"That is a very special person that has very special thoughts."

"Like a special ed kid?"

Laughing even harder I add: "No, in a special only-my-Pixie kind of way."

She seems to be satisfied with that answer.

I spy an open Starbucks at the side of the road.

"Hey kids, how about some hot chocolate?" I ask the crowd. A general "Yay" makes me turn into the parking lot.

As I enter the place with three small kids in Sunday clothes, the barista looks at me funny but I go ahead and order three kids sized hot cocoas, a triple shot espresso and a bunch of cookies.

I also ask for a towel to cover Lailie's dress. No Christmas dress is a sin, but a substitute dress with chocolate stains is a deathly sin.

"So, we are not going to Grammy then?" She looks rather relieved and nibs at her cookie.

"Well, honey, we still have to go…" Her smile fades. "But we'll just go a little later!"

Watching the kids as they crumble and sip I turn to my espresso. Triple might still not be sufficient enough. The discomfort about my talk to Rory, or rather the lack thereof, slowly but surely causes anger to rise within me that no amount of espresso will be able to suppress.

We have been married for almost seven years for heaven's sake! She can't just go ahead and decide things on her own. And all that stuff about the fertility clinic, the miracle… Maybe she wanted to get pregnant, had problems with it, and got a check up at that clinic and all the sudden she's pregnant? But still, why did she not tell me about it?

Geez, Huntzberger, you're a journalist and you can't even figure out what on earth is up with your wife. I should consider a change of profession.

As the kids start playing with the last cookie crumbles and their cups are becoming empty, I tell them to grab their coats and get to the car.

Just after I've thrown the last cup into the trash can, my phone starts ringing. Knowing who it is and what it is about, I pick up.

"Hi Rory." I sigh. She's taken by surprise at my calling her Rory. "Uh, Logan… It's… Where on earth are you? We left at the same time and Mom, Luke and I got here thirty minutes ago! It's just a ten minute ride!"

"We took a little detour to a slightly more comfortable place. We'll be over in five."

I hang up without telling her 'see you soon' or any appropriate ending to our conversation. I don't want to be mad at her, especially not on Christmas Eve! But I just can't help it!

Everything was perfect until Finn came up with this stupid idea. And I can't blame him for apparently he has been right about it. Until this very afternoon I was the happiest man on earth, well at least in Hartford but everything was spoiled by Rory's silence about her true intentions, or whatever you want to call it.

Of course Emily is mad about the dress, Rory avoids me and Lorelai stares at me, wondering what is going on.

Luke ignores the tension or is oblivious to it since he still doesn't feel comfortable in the elder Gilmore's presence.

Richard took off earlier, occupying himself and Willy with a fort play set, building a castle and setting up knights and soldiers.

The girls sit near the fireplace, brushing their new dolls and dressing them in all kinds of new clothes.

As Emily announces we should drink to this wonderful Christmas and passes glasses of champagne to everybody, I'm very much reminded about the situation earlier.

Setting my untouched champagne down on the coffee table, before a toast is spoken, I excuse myself to catch some fresh air.

"The scented candles make my head dizzy." I tell Emily and leave the room.

I don't know how long I've been sitting on the ice cold deck chair, all I know that for the first time in a lot of years, tears are rolling down my cheeks.

"Logan?" Rory must have stepped out on the patio. Wiping the tears away, I turn around and look at her.

"What?"

"Please, Logan, come in. It's freezing out here!"

"If you ask me, it's a lot warmer out here than in there."

She avoids my eyes but steps a little closer, rubbing her arms. I slip off my coat and put it around her shoulders, getting her to look at me.

"Thanks." She stares at my eyes, gasping a little.

"Logan, have you been crying?"

"Geez, Rory!" She cringes at the name and my volume. "Yes, I have been crying! I have no idea, what is going on with you! I feel that you are lying, that you keep stuff from me that is important for me to know. First I'm all happy about Junior, then Finn tells me he didn't know we were planning on an addition to the family, making me wonder how all this happened. Then your strange behavior while you were writing the stupid name tags, me finding a letter from some sort of fertility clinic, Lorelai making all these comments about 'miracles' after all this whatever! Can't you tell I like all this stuff going on? I simply love it! Go on, make me miserable! One minute I'm so happy about the new baby and the next second I'm scared like hell because I can't comprehend your actions!"

"I'm sorry." Her voice is tiny.

"Are you!" I don't want to yell, but all this built up anger makes me.

"Listen Logan, maybe we shouldn't talk about this now-"

"No, Rory, I'm pretty sure we should talk about this right now! 'Cause with the way this evening has been going so far, I'm about to take Pixie and go home."

Silently she takes my hand and leads me over to the pool house. The doors are unlocked. It still has all the furniture from when she lived here for some time when she had that crazy idea to drop out of Yale, but it's covered with white sheets.

"Rory, what is going on with you?"

She sits on the couch; I get down next to her, taking her hand.

"Please, you need to tell me what is going on or I'm going to go nuts! I've been trying to ignore that tiny voice in my head all day long but it has grown to be a lion's roar."

Sensing this isn't easy for her, I wait.

And wait.

"Logan, it's complicated, I don't know if you understand why I did what I did…"

I sigh. "Try me; it can't get any worse than it is right now."

"Well… Ok, but please, don't judge before I'm finished."

That will be hard but I nod.

"See, when you told me, you wanted another baby about three years ago, I didn't want one because I had just started the new job and all…"

Sighing, she keeps on talking.

"But as Steph got pregnant again and Lailie started asking about why she didn't have a brother or sister, which was only a couple of weeks after our talk, I decided to do it. I wanted to have another baby and keep writing freelance or whatever."

And I always thought she wanted to wait.

"I stopped taking birth control pills. I didn't tell you because I wanted to surprise you with it, knowing you wanted it so bad!"

She's looking at me, her eyes telling me she's sorry.

"When I didn't get pregnant after a couple of months, I checked back with my doctor, he told me it is pretty common that women don't get pregnant right after stopping with birth control. So I waited. But nothing happened for almost a year."

Now she starts talking faster to get it all out.

"You were on a business trip in Toronto when I realized I was late. After the positive home pregnancy test, I was about to call you immediately and tell you, but waited to do it in person a couple of days later. When I checked with the doctor the next morning, he told me that I wasn't really pregnant, it was a tubal pregnancy. Of course I was disappointed and I know I should have told you but I knew you'd be heartbroken. So I didn't."

No! Why not! Yes, I would have been sad but we could have been sad together. She looks like she is about to cry. I want to stroke her hand but she withdraws it.

"Again, nothing happened for over a year. I felt so bad; I thought it was my fault that I didn't get pregnant. I was afraid I would never be able to have more kids, that's when I contacted Dr. Jones' clinic in May."

Ah, envelope guy.

"They ran a few tests and said something about a minor hormone irregularity that might have been the cause. I got a couple of injections and pills, but they told me right then it might not be working or take a very long time to be effective. But lucky for us, it didn't take all that long and when I went to Boston for my last check up in late November, Dr. Jones told me I was four weeks pregnant."

She smiles but it fades when she continues.

"I didn't tell you until last night because I was scared, I might lose it again. But my gynecologist told me yesterday that everything looked fine on the ultra-sound and the blood tests were all great. Thus I went ahead to tell you the big and happy news. And look what it ended up in… I screwed up! I screwed up big time!"

I feel sorry for her, I feel so sorry! Here I am, the big dork who didn't realize for three years that his wife was desperately trying to get pregnant, reproaching her about lying to me.

"But Ace," I pick up her chin. "Why did you not tell me about this? About all the trouble and pain you went through? I promised to be there for you and I stick to that promise. We could have shared the pain; I don't want you to suffer through stuff by yourself. That's what I'm here for. To love you and care for you, even if the times get rough!"

Her voice almost breaks when she answers.

"I didn't want you to worry about it. Every day I see how happy you are about Lailie and how much you love her. I couldn't tell you that we might never have more kids; I couldn't break your heart! And when I started visiting Dr. Jones, I didn't tell you because I didn't want you to get your hopes up in case it didn't work out. But when it did work, I didn't know what to do… Since we hadn't talked about babies for three years, I wasn't sure about your take on this."

She stops and looks at me.

"I know this all is a huge ball of mess and I take all the blame for it. But please Logan, keep in mind that I did all of this to protect your heart. I… I love you."

Closing my eyes I sigh and try to take everything she just said in. It's a lot, it hurts a little but it explains a lot. I'm glad it's all out now, no more secrets. Still some uneasiness remains about the not telling part, 'cause I'm sure I could have handled. But the roaring lion is gone, it has been replaced by a mental post it, telling me to go over this again, at a later time. And finally I can focus on the positive main aspect of this entire fiasco.

I hug her and kiss her, looking her straight in the eyes and smiling widely I say:

"Ace, we're going to have another baby!"


	8. Finally A Merry Christmas

After a million assurances that I'm really fine now, yes, we still have to have another talk about it, after Christmas, but no, I'm not going to turn into a nut case tonight, we re-enter the main house holding hands.

Immediately Emily jumps up and gets at our, or rather my throat.

"Is this what you do at social gatherings? Is it common behavior nowadays to just run out and not come back for an hour, leaving your child behind?"

"Grandma-" Rory starts but quickly gets cut off by Emily.

"This is not about you my Dear! It is about your darling husband! First, he shows up 45 minutes late then looks like a sour plum all night long. He won't chat, he won't drink, hardly touched the delicious food! Oh, and he apparently didn't like the dress I chose for Lailie myself. He just goes out and buys a white and pink dress. Who wears white and pink for Christmas! And finally, he just leaves when we're about to toast, making you come out to look for him, almost freezing yourself to death! This is not appropriate behavior young man!"

I try to be calm about this, even though Emily calling me 'young man' isn't helping it.

"See, Emily, I'm sorry about my behavior earlier, but I was really upset about something which I had to solve with myself."

"Upset! You're not upset during Christmas! Especially not in this house! You are disturbing our happy gathering!"

I hear a disapproving sound coming from Lorelai.

But Emily Gilmore is not finished. Just as she's about to start again, Rory interrupts her.

"Listen Grandmother, I do not, and I repeat, I do not want you to talk to my husband like this! He is very well allowed to be upset, in this case, it was even my fault he was and I'm really sorry about it. Just stay away from him and mind your own business. This certainly isn't yours, and I advise you to calm down or we will be out of your life before you know it."

Still, I can see the disdain on Emily Gilmore's face. Glancing at my watch I realize how late it has gotten.

"Honey," I whisper, "it's almost nine. Maybe we should just go ahead and…" I move my head towards the door. She glances at her own wrist and nods.

"We're leaving!" she announces to everybody, as I go and collect Lailie's stuff.

Rory walks over to Lorelai, whispering, she probably tells her about our talk in the pool house. I see little smiles and side glances towards me and wink at her.

Man, I'm so relieved!

Lailie is sitting on a big chair, reading a book. Or at least she is turning the pages of a book since a look at her rosy face tells me, that her eyelids have become really heavy and she is about to doze off.

"Hey, Princess. Come on, we're leaving."

All I hear is a tiny 'Otay'. I have to put her arms over my shoulders since she's way too sleepy to do it herself.

We say good-bye to Lorelai and Luke outside. Willy and Emma were asleep long before Lailie was.

Lorelai gives me a half hug, which is pretty hard since I still have sleeping beauty in my arms, and whispers: "Please don't be mad. She really tried, she tried so hard and is so happy about it."

"Me, too." I say and smile at her, "Me, too."

I go and buckle Lailie in as Rory cramps all the boxes and gift bags in the trunk and shuts it with a loud banging sound.

"Easy on the car, Honey! Can't blame it for Emily Gilmore's shopping addiction."

She growls at that and circles the car to the passenger's side. "You know what? Next year, we're going on vacation over the holidays. Aspen or Switzerland or some kind of fancy place. We'll have fun, they will be peeved and all is well."

Smiling I tell her: "Forget it, Ace. That's what you said last year and see where we are right now." She starts pouting and crosses her arms across her chest.

"Plus," I add, "you don't like those fancy places, never did and probably never will. I'd prefer a log house somewhere in Canada or even in Norway, they wouldn't find us there."

My suggestions make her beam.

"Yes, please! And we leave a week before Christmas and won't come back until mid January! I'll check the internet when we get home!"

"You forget something there, Ace." Rory looks at me with skeptical eyebrows.

"What is it?"

I reach across the car and put my hand on her stomach.

"Next year, there will be four of us and I can't imagine you taking Junior to a cottage in the middle of nowhere… Aaand, having him around next year might smooth ruffled feathers, you know how nobody dares to yell if there's a tiny baby with blonde hair and blue eyes present. It worked with Lailie and it will work with Junior."

Gasping she says: "Mr. Huntzberger! You are using your unborn son to protect yourself from the wrath of Emily Gilmore? Shame on you!"

I don't care about the wrath part but one thing is interesting… "So, Ace, you admit that we're going to have a boy? I knew it, I simply knew it!"

Apparently Rory doesn't like my happy dance that is kind of disturbed by the tight space behind the steering wheel and the fact that I still have to keep an eye on the street.

An evil smile appears on her usually beautiful face. "Well, Mr. Huntzberger, you won't know until the actual birth I guess. 'The-I-don't-want-to-know-my-baby's-gender' didn't work out with Lailie 'cause the doctor must have confused 'do' with 'do not' and just told us, but this time, there will be a much more reliable doctor who will not spill the beans before we can see it on the actual baby."

"Mean! But how are you supposed to decorate the nursery if you don't know what color to choose?"

"I'll just stick to my motherly intuition."

"Which tells you it is a boy?"

"Keep your mind on the street, Mister."

It's a little after ten thirty when Rory and I finally settle down in front of the living room fire place.

Lailie woke up, when Rory tried to put her nightgown on and insisted upon putting out cookies and milk out for Santa. She even 'stole' a carrot from Rory and wrote 'for Rudolph only' on a gift tag that she attached to the carrot. When back in bed, almost asleep, she remembered the early Christmas gift I promised her earlier, so I went to fetch it, but when I got back, she was already snoozing off, so I put it on the nightstand, kissed her cheek, and went to join Rory in our bedroom to go and change into something more comfortable.

Filling the stockings and putting the final touches on the gift pile took another 30 minutes.

Now, sitting here, my arms wrapped around her from behind, we enjoy the silence.

Rory is nibbling on Rudolph's carrot and drinking Santa's milk as I take care of the cookies and some scotch, that any real Santa, that is not pregnant, would prefer over milk.

Sighing she gets up.

"Whoa! Were do you think you're going lady?" I ask her and fetch the waistline of her yoga pants, making her fall on her butt again.

"I'm going to get a thank you card. Don't you think Santa would be polite enough to write a thank you note after eating cookies and drinking milk? Though I don't know how I'm going to get Rudolph's footprint on the card…"

"Geez… Gilmore women have a very interesting imagination."

She moves up again, this time making sure I'm not holding on to anything.

"But you know it's the Huntzberger smile that will light up her face when she sees she got mail from Santa."

Smiling I shake my head. How did I get stuck with this woman? Oh, right, I'm completely in love with her.

I catch a glimpse of a gift box, sitting on the edge of the couch, in the corner of my eye. Leaning over to pick it up, I realize it's the 'Baby Huntzberger' gift from earlier. It was never opened since everybody was way too preoccupied with the baby celebration.

When Rory comes back with a card, a couple of pens, a potato, a knife, and some acrylic paint, I hand her the gift.

"Huh? Is it morning already?" I chuckle and tell her to open it.

As she's staring at the content for a few moments, I notice how tears well up in her eyes. She picks up the one-piece, and runs over the stitching with her fingertips.

"My little baby brother… She is really excited about this, isn't she?"

I nod.

"Yes, and she is convinced she's going to have a little brother, 'cause that's what she asked Santa for."

"Really? How about that…"

Again I nod, smiling.

"He told her he couldn't make any promises since he had to check back with us first." Now she's the one chuckling.

"She even told me, this was the only thing she really wanted from Santa."

Rory groans. "So, all we had to get her was a baby brother? What about all that stuff?" She waves her hand over to the Christmas tree.

"Well, not necessary." I smirk.

"Do you think she will be disappointed when Junior here," she puts her hand on her stomach, "is going to be a girl?"

"Nah, I don't think so. Maybe a little at first, but she would be like a big doll for her, a doll that cries and poops and needs actual food, so it's going to be exciting… Plus, it actually can't be a girl, there would be no use for the one-piece! Or we'd have to produce little babies until a boy comes along!"

Laughing Rory throws the rattle at me.

"I'm really sorry I didn't notice your desperate try to get pregnant… I'm a terrible husband!"

"Oh Honey," she sits in my lap and caresses my cheek, "you are not a terrible husband. It was my fault I didn't tell you. Yes, sometimes you work too much and sometimes I miss you way too much when you're on business trips, but other than that, I couldn't ask for more."

She starts kissing me but I move back,

"So all the gifts I got you for Christmas were unnecessary, 'cause all you want is that I'm home a little more?" I smirk.

"Oh, the presents are not at all unnecessary!" She shakes her head eagerly.

"You know you can't keep a Gilmore Girl, or at least still Gilmore at heart, from a sufficient amount of gifts on Christmas Day."

I start playing with her hair and tug her towards me to kiss her.

It has been a very intense day, for both of us. Cuddling on the living room couch 'til well past midnight made up for a lot of weird feelings I experienced during the day.

Glancing at the alarm clock I groan inwardly when I realize it's almost one a.m..

Lailie's capture of our bed tomorrow morning will be way earlier and a lot more rushed than today. Instead of wake up cuddling, there will be a little girl tearing at our limbs to get us downstairs.

Should I have told Rory about the possible kitten that could join us come tomorrow afternoon? Nah, you never know with Finn. Although, when it comes to Finn and Lailie, you can be pretty sure about some things.

Thinking about possible places to put the cat litter box, I drift off to sleep.


	9. All I Want For Christmas Is Youuuu

"Christmas! Daddy it's Christmas Morning! Daddy wake up! Now! Daddy!"

Suddenly, the white sandy beach where I had just been laying, kissing Ace, who had a striped beach ball as a belly, are gone. The bright light that disturbs my eyes is not the sun shining from the blue sky but rather the ceiling spots that shine right into my half opened eyes.

I knew it. Sleep! I want to sleep! Maybe if I shut my eyes and can't see her anymore, maybe she will disappear.

"Daddy, please!" Nope, didn't work.

"Daddy! I wanna see what Santa brought me! Mommy says we have to wait for you to get up."

Wait, Mommy says? I move my arm and check Rory's side of the bed. Nothing. I feel some more and still no Rory, the sheets are not even warm. That's when I slowly open one of my eyes and realize for sure there is no Rory in my bed.

I turn my head and see a fluffy pink robe and a little further up, I see my daughter's bright eyes and rosy cheeks.

"Yay, you're awake! Now com on Daddy!" One second she claps her hands joyfully and the other second she pulls my arm, trying to drag me out of bed.

"Please Pixie, just let Daddy sleep for some more minutes…" I mumble. How much scotch did I drink last night? Was it that much? Did I check the cookies for their expiration date? Wait, junk food never gets old in our house.

"No Daddy!" she whines but then adds: "Mommy is making breakfast and you need to come and have some before I can go and see what Santa got me!"

I immediately become scared.

"What?" I ask her, sitting upright. "Mommy is making breakfast?"

I can't tell if she's nodding or shaking her head. Fumbling with the front stitching of her nightgown she says:

"Well, she's not actually making breakfast… But she told me to tell you that if you didn't want to get up."

Groaning I fall back into the pillows. Rory making breakfast is scary, Rory making Lailie lie about her making breakfast is kind of funny. By the way, where is Rory?

"Pix, where is Mommy?"

"Oh she is in the dining room, setting the table. She actually sent me up to make sure you get up. So, please Daddy, get up!"

Reluctantly I move and sit up, running my hands over my face.

Wow, the alarm clock says it's 8:15. A lot later than I would have expected.

"Ok, Princess, see, I'm up." I sigh. "Now go tell Mommy that I will be down in 10 minutes."

She beams and starts running off.

"Hey Pix!"

"Yes, Daddy?"

"Never scare me like that again?"

"Okay, Daddy! Now hurry!" and she's out the doors.

Wait, who's the parent here?

As the water splashes in my face and gradually wakes me, I run over today's schedule again.

Breakfast, made by me, NOT Rory.

Legendary opening of presents. Hm, wonder what the cute and soft thing is.

Lunch at the Dragonfly, combined with picking up the food for tonight's big bash with our friends.

That reminds me, I have to call Finn and check on the kitten. This would be such a Finn thing to do. Maybe we can put the litter box in the mud room. Though we'd have to put one of those flip things in the door.

I hate Finn!

Lailie only nibbles on her pancake although I made a Santa face for her, complete with a strawberry hat, chocolate chip eyes, and a whipped cream beard. She's sliding up and down in her chair, tapping her feet against the table legs.

"Honey!" Rory finally says and puts her fork down. "I know you want to go check the living room if Santa has left you anything but is it too much to just eat one pancake?"

Lailie nods with a quite serious face.

"Ok, Pix," I sigh, "I have an offer of peace: You eat all the strawberries, half the pancake and drink all your juice and you're allowed to go. Deal?"

"Yes!" She picks up a strawberry and starts to munch happily.

Rory looks at me with a disapproving expression.

"When did we start the good cop, bad cop thing?" She hisses.

"When I started depriving you of coffee, my dear!"

I smirk, take my coffee cup and inhale deeply. Payback for the 'Mommy making breakfast' wakeup call.

She growls softly and sips at her orange juice.

"Finished!" Lailie announces suddenly. And she's right, there are no more strawberries and half of the pancake, of course the whipped cream half, is gone. Even the juice cup is empty.

"Well then, lovely ladies," I say as I get up, "I believe the living room awaits us."

And as soon as I open the sliding door from the dining room to the living room, Lailie runs through the doorway and comes to a screeching hold in front of the fireplace. Beaming with joy, she first checks for her stocking and then if the cookies and the milk are gone.

My Ace and I keep standing in the doorway, looking at what she's doing.

"Mommy, Daddy! Santa ate the cookies! And see, he even left me a note!"

I knit my brows at the last part. Wait, wasn't the thank you note making disturbed by our, well, 'make-out session' on the couch? I can't remember Rory making it.

She sighs at my questioning look at whispers in a very low voice: "Things you do when you can't go back to sleep after puking your guts out…"

"Oh, I'm sorry Ace." Kissing her on the cheek I add. "Hope this won't last very long. If it does, we might have to stock up on your crafts supplies…"

Rolling her eyes, she slaps my arm and goes over to help Lailie taking down her stocking. I join my ladies and pick up my own stocking.

Rory and I started the tradition of filling each others stockings at our very first Christmas as a family. We always pick a theme, sometimes it's funny and silly stuff. I remember one Christmas when all I got was a stocking full of sausage. It was disgusting! I stopped eating any kind of sausage after that. Once I put a pair of earrings in one of Lailie's baby socks, that sock in a bigger one and so on. It was a lot of work but hilarious watching Rory go nuts as she unwrapped sock after sock after sock, with no ending in sight.

This year, we decided to fill each others stockings with something that reminded us of the time, when we knew we wanted to be with the other person.

Emptying her stocking, Rory reveals a new digital camera, a pocket sized umbrella, some note pads, a small gorilla – they were out of masks! Maybe the current LDB had a huge gathering – and a small bottle of champagne.

"Ah, I see Santa was a member of the infamous LDB!" She smiles and leans over to kiss me. "Thank you Santa!"

"Mommy, why were you winking at Daddy when you said 'Thank you Santa'?" Ah, caught in the act.

"I… Um, I wasn't winking at Daddy! I… I just had something in my eye!" Liar, liar… "Now, Honey, have you seen all the things under the tree? Go check them if they're for you!"

Lailie runs off to the tree.

"No more winking for you, Mrs. Huntzberger!" Laughing at her flushed face, I take my stocking and let the content fall on the couch.

"Let's see what we got here… A blonde Ken doll in a tux, a brunette Barbie in a tux, a little net bag filled with almonds, a CD with 'Moon River' and also a small bottle of champagne. Ace, it seems as if there was a lot of alcohol involved when we realized we wanted to be with each other, huh?"

She giggles and sits on my lap. Watching how Lailie jumps between wrapping paper and bubble foil, she leans into me and whispers:

"Merry Christmas Logan."

"Merry Christmas, Ace… Hey, Ace, what is the soft and cute thing you got me?"

Reluctantly leaving her spot, she goes and fetches a square box from under the tree.

"Honey, are you sure this isn't Lailie's?" All I can see when I open the box, is the head of a rather large teddy bear.

"Go on, take it out!"

Doing as I'm told to do, I smile when I read the stitching on the bear's sweater. 'For the proudest Daddy in the World'

"And now press his right arm!" Ace tells me impatiently. When nothing happens, she takes the bear and presses harder. And suddenly, it starts singing: "All I want for Christmas, is youuuuu…"

Well, not only men turn into four-year-olds when it comes to babies and toys, women do, too.


	10. A Dragonfly Christmas

It is a rather funny looking scene, two women, well, one and a half women, sitting at the breakfast counter, playing with their new laptop computers.

Lailie is currently solving a really hard Winnie-the-Pooh riddle and Rory trying to transfer the Christmas Morning pictures from her new digital camera to the new computer.

Both are biting their lips and growl at their respective technical devices. Mother and daughter are so much alike!

I lean against the stove, wondering if Junior will be a Rory or a Logan, when I notice that it is almost half past eleven.

"Girls, we have to go change! We have to be at the Dragonfly in an hour!" Nothing.

"Ace, Pix, we have to leave!" Again, nothing.

"The house is on fire?" Two shot glances at me that ask me if I'm nuts.

Ok, they asked for it.

When I shut their computers, I hear simultaneous gasping, followed by "But I was almost finished!" from both ladies.

"I. Don't. Care." Two pouting girls growl at me but I keep smiling and hold the monitors shut.

"No way, you two. Go up, change! Do you want to get on Lorelai's bad side?"

"But Daddy…" Lailie says sweetly, this can't be good. "Mommy and I are both Lorelai, too. How can we get on our own bad side?"

"Don't start that discussion Pixie or I'll make you take your violin and play Christmas songs for the Dragonfly Inn guests."

"Mean!"

Wow, musical threats always work. Reluctantly she gets off the stool and stomps off.

"And what about me, Mister? Will I have to take my, well nonexistent violin, too?" Rory asks, leaning back on the chair, a smug smile on her sweet lips.

"No, of course not!" I get closer and take her hand to pull her closer to my body.

"We don't want to scare the guest off with your, also nonexistent, musical talent." I say in a low voice and start kissing her.

As my tongue enters her mouth and she puts her arms around my neck to draw me closer, she moans slightly, exactly the reaction I wanted.

She starts whining as I pull back.

"See, Ace, you won't be getting any of this for a very, very long time, if you don't go up right now to change."

"But I'm pregnant!"

"Oh, that's a reason to not go and change?"

"Well… Pregnant women need love in order for the baby to grow properly."

"I will still love you with all my heart, I just won't be kissing you if you refuse to go."

"Fine, Daddy!"

"That's my little girl," I say, as I push her towards the door. "Now, Ace, go, be a nice little girl and change for Lorelai and maybe Santa will have another gift for you when you come back down."

"Mean! But you better have that gift ready, Mister!"

"The dress box is on the top shelf in the closet, the pinkish one!" I shout after her.

As Rory comes down the stairs in a dark red wool dress, Lailie and I wait for her, both staring at the beautiful creature.

"Mommy, you look sooo beautiful!" Lailie says and hugs her around the waist, carefully since she doesn't want to crush Junior.

Looking at Lailie's green jumper and the white and red striped shirt, she starts laughing softly.

"Thank you Honey, you look very pretty as well! I wonder why the outfit you're wearing was not available last night…"

"I'm sorry Ace, we just couldn't find it in her closet yesterday…" I say and kiss her cheek.

Rolling her eyes, she gets in the coat I hold open for her.

"So, what about my gift?"

While going through the drawers to find a brush and some ribbons to tame Lailie's hair, she looks at me expectantly.

"Oh, I almost forgot!"

Reaching into my coat pocket, I present her with a white gold necklace with an emerald and diamond pendant.

"You know, no Christmas outfit is perfect without some red and some green in it…"

She holds up her hair, motioning for me to put the necklace around her neck.

"You are such a softie, Mr. Huntzberger!"

When we arrive at the Dragonfly Inn, Rory looks very pale and has a nice greenish gleam to her face, perfect Christmas look.

I told her not to sit in the back with Lailie since driving in the back always makes her sick. But she wouldn't listen and insisted upon doing Lailie's hair in the car.

"Oh my God, what happened to her?" Lorelai looks at me as if I were to blame for my wife's miserable look.

"She wanted to sit in the back with Lailie."

"But that makes her sick! Didn't you know that?"

"That's what I told her! But she ignored me."

"Oh, Honey, come sit down."

The mother leads the daughter over to a couch in the reception area.

"Lailie, go to the kitchen and ask Sookie for a glass of water!" she commands and Lailie skips off.

"Did she have morning sickness today?"

I nod and sit next to Rory, taking her sweaty hand.

"Hm… This happened a couple of times when she was pregnant with Lailie." Lorelai looks very concerned.

"Honey, just sit here for a while, I bet you'll feel better soon. And don't you dare sit in the back of any car for the next months!"

Lailie comes skipping back into the room. She hands Lorelai the glass and puts a cookie in her mouth.

"Hey, Pix, who gave you that cookie? We're about to have lunch!"

"Sookie did! She told me to tell you that this is my first course since I wouldn't eat any of the other stuff that she made for first course."

"Lailie," I start, and she gasps, same reaction as Rory, whenever I address her with her actual name, "you have to start eating real food!"

She smiles at me, innocently. This mixture of Rory and my genes is not healthy for the nerves, my nerves in particular.

"Please, stop talking about food!" Rory manages to whisper between two gulps.

"Just go and join everybody in the dining room, I'll take care of this one." Lorelai says, her eyes still fixed on Rory and the glass of water, and waves in the general of the dining room.

I pick up Lailie and comply to my mother-in-law's orders.

"We can't let Mommy drive in the back seat any more, Pix." She just shrugs with her tiny shoulders and looks at Mommy, who seems to gradually get better.

"Well, if you say so. But I like riding in the back best. Much more room to play!"

How right she is… Hope she forgets about this by the time she's in high school and her boyfriend has a car.

Wait, no, I won't allow her to have a boyfriend until she graduates from college!

When we enter the dining room everybody is already there. I set Lailie down and she goes to join Sookie's kids, Willy, and Emma at the kids' table.

'Everybody' pretty much consists out of Luke, Jackson, Sookie who is still in the kitchen, Luke's sister Liz, her husband TJ, Babette and Murray, Miss Patty, Kirk, Lulu, and Baby Kirk who is peacefully slumbering in his carry thingy. I never quite understood how Kirk always ends up at all kinds of gatherings, but I stopped trying quite some time ago.

"Hey," I say to the general audience. "Merry Christmas!" The choir answers with "Merry Christmas" and Luke gets up walking over to me.

"Hey, where is Rory? Or are you playing single Dad today?"

"Nah," I say smiling, "Rory isn't feeling well. She started feeling sick on the ride over, Lorelai is taking care of her."

"Did she ride in the back?"

"Yup."

"She knows she shouldn't ride in the back when she's pregnant!"

"You try telling her! I gave up after the third time this morning. She knew better, or apparently didn't…"

"What did I hear?" Sookie's shrill voice echoes through the room, as she enters with a huge tray in her arms. "Who is pregnant?"

"Rory is." I smirk, since I know what is about to happen.

"Oh! Really?" Jackson just manages to catch the tray before it falls on the ground. Sookie runs towards me and gives me one of her famous Sookie hugs. I knew it.

"Oh! I'm so happy for the two of you!" Another big squeeze.

"Uh, thanks Sookie." Speaking while being crushed by Sookie is not easy.

But this is only the beginning.

As much as I grew to love Stars Hollow and all the funky people within this mental institution, being hugged and squeezed by all the females in attendance because they want to show their happiness about my, well our baby, is not one of my dreams in life.

But it's better than last time when I was actually afraid to enter the town. People kept threatening to kill me since I 'knocked up' the town princess. It got better after the Stars Hollow newspaper formally announced our wedding and people only stared at me in a kind of mad way. But the first day Rory and I went to the Hollow with Lailie in her stroller, they started loving me since someone that could create such a cute child couldn't be evil.

So this is me, the man who lived, thanks to my cute Pixie.

My life is saved again by my beautiful Ace, when she enters the room, looking a lot better than before.

She looks really scared when the pile of women suddenly shifts from me to her and starts squeezing and patting her.

Her WTF facial expression changes into a small smile when Miss Patty yells, "Oh, Rory, Sweetie, I am sooo happy for you! Just another cute little girl is just what you need!"

My own smile fades when Jackson pulls me aside.

"I hope this time, you respect her wishes."

"Huh?"

"You know, if she doesn't wanna know the gender, you simply have to accept it!"

"See, Jackson-"

"It is the mother's right to decide if she wants to know, or not. Don't pressure her!"

"Jackson, I-"

"What good is it if you know earlier? Will you love him more and be disappointed with a girl? Or send him off and only accept a girl?"

"No, I'd never-"

"See, that's the point. You're going to love the baby, no matter if it's a boy or a girl. Right?"

"Right!"

"See! I'm glad we talked about it!"

He slaps my shoulder and marches off.

Wow. That was a scary encounter.

"See, Logan…" Suddenly Morey appears next to me. I've never really talked to him. He always seems to be on a higher 'level' than everybody else.

"You are not a big musician, are you?"

"Nah, my musical talent doesn't exceed whistling."

"See, you have to work on that. I read in a magazine the other day that babies who grow up with the blues and jazz are a lot smarter than other kids."

"Um… Is that so?"

"Yes, very much! Most young parents think it's the classical music they should play to their kids. But no, it is the blues and the jazz that makes kids smart! You always gotta remember that."

"Uh, yeah, Morey, thanks. I will, I will definitely remember this!"

Thank goodness I'm saved by the bell, or rather lunch, when I see TJ walking towards me. I already had to suffer through his child crib safety talk shortly after Lailie's birth.

Thinking about her I glance over to the kids' table.

"Hey Ace?" I ask as she sits down next to me, "You feeling better?"

She nods. "A lot!"

"I'm glad. No more backseats for you, missy!"

Smiling, she rolls her eyes.

"And Ace, why is Michel sitting on one of the tiny chairs over at the kids' table?"

She starts laughing and looks over to where the kids – and Michel – are gathered around a kid sized table.

"Well you know, Darling, the other day when we were here for lunch with Mom, Lailie kept chasing him around and only let go, when he promised to sit at the kids' table during Christmas Lunch. I never expected him to come but apparently, he has a big heart for small people."

After one last glance at the funny scene, she devotes her attention to Lorelai who's sitting to her left.

I'm about to put some mashed potatoes on my plate as my ears start ringing.

"And my Uncle Finny promised me a kitten for Christmas!" – "A kitten?" Michel's accent is quite distinctive.

"Yes, a real kitten, not a fake one, but a real one!"

"Oh, would you not rather have a dog? I have two dogs! They are a lot better than cats!"

"No, I want a real kitten. Dogs smell!"

From the corner of my eyes I see how Michel pouts.

"Oh, no Michel! Please don't cry! I'm sure your dogs don't smell! Well they probably do smell, but not like dog but like daisies or strawberries!"

I chuckle about my daughters antics. She's quite an original.

"What is it? Are the mashed potatoes funny?"

"Uh… No, Ace, it's… Just had a funny memory of last year's Christmas Dinner with the gang. By the way, have you checked with Sookie about the food?"

Smooth, Huntzberger, smooth. I just have to hope she's buying it and pray to God that she didn't overhear the kitten conversation.

Considering that she already started to chat with Sookie about what she prepared for us to take home for our friends, I guess she didn't.

After lunch, when Rory goes to the kitchen to get heating instructions from Sookie and Lailie manages to talk Michel into playing hide-'n-seek with the underage crowd, I sneak out on the front porch and flip my phone open to make a call.

"Huntz, mate! You already miss me? We'll be over in a few hours!"

"No, Finn, I don't miss you. It's just-"

"You do miss me! Awww, but you know… I'm more a ladies man. I told you years ago. No offense or anything, you're just not my type."

"Stop it Finn! And if I remember correctly, it was you who was cuddling against me during sleep, not the other way round."

"But admit it. You liked it-"

"Finn!"

How did we end up discussing boarding school incidences?

"Fine, what can I do for you? Did the turkey escape?"

"No. Let's say, I overheard a quite interesting conversation between my daughter and Michel."

"That French guy? He actually talks? Wow. Every time I try to talk to him he just sneers at me."

"Well, apparently he talks to Lailie. Anyways, you promised her a kitten!"

Silence.

"Finn, did you or did you not promise my daughter to give her a kitten for Christmas?"

"Well… I, might have talked about the possible chance of thinking about getting her a kitten for a Christmas, not necessarily this year…"

"So you promised her to get one?"

"I might have-"

"Finn!"

"Yes, I did promise her."

"Did you get it?"

"I understand everything you say, mate!"

"I mean, did you get her the kitten!"

"Um… Well, if you ask that way, there might be-"

"Get to the point, Finn!"

"Geez, someone's got his panties in a twist! Did you sleep on the couch last night?"

"Finn, I expect you to get rid of any kitten that might currently be at your house and is supposed to change its place of residence to our house by tonight."

"Nook! Don't make me! She's so cute!"

I knew it. How? Could? He?

"Finn! What made you think that either Rory or I were ok with you getting our daughter a kitten?"

"You were right there yesterday when she told me about the kitten thing. I assumed it was ok for me to get her one since you didn't say anything about it."

"Exactly, I didn't say anything!"

"Please don't make me take Strawberry back to the breeder. She is so cute! And she's even housebroken, so no worries about your carpets."

"Strawberry? You named her Strawberry?"

"Well, I didn't, Miranda did. She's allergic to strawberries and apparently also to cats. So she named her Strawberry, now she's just allergic to all kinds of strawberries."

I don't know what to. But I don't have to since Finn continues.

"See mate, she's a little lovely and well behaved cat lady. Just let me bring her over and see how it goes. If it doesn't work out at all, you can take her back, the worst that might happen is a brokenhearted six-year-old."

"Exactly!"

"Please! We can't keep her any longer, Miranda is all puffy-eyed. The neighbors have dogs, and she's scared of dogs."

It might not be all that bad, having a pet in the house. A good opportunity for Lailie to learn about responsibility, something that her Uncle Finn apparently never did.

"Fine! Bring her! But you tell my wife that this was your crazy idea and that I didn't know anything about this!"

"Great! See you in a few hours!"

What have I done?

We leave early, after too much food and with even more food. I doubt I'll be able to eat anything tonight when the guys come over. Especially since my life is gonna be over the second 'Strawberry' sets paw in hour house.

It was a good life. I already see the death announcement: Logan Huntzberger of Hartford, CT, died December 25th through the hand of his once beloved wife, Lorelai Gilmore Huntzberger due to a 'cat fight'. He leaves the murderous wife, a daughter, a Junior, and a cat.


	11. Grownup Talk

I hate folding napkins. Why would you fold napkins? There is no rhyme or reason to it. The second you sit down at a dinner table, you take the napkin and unfold it to put it on your lap. It's not like a folded napkin is a better napkin.

But I'll do everything tonight, everything to get on Rory's good side.

Finn called earlier. He told Rory that Miranda hat a 'little' allergic reaction to 'something' – as far as I remember, he mentioned puffy eyes when I talked to him - thus they had to stop by the pharmacy on the way over and would be a little late.

Colin called as well, telling her that they'd actually be early since there were no funny incidences on their way down from Boston.

When Colin started in his dad's law firm right after law school, we didn't get to meet him and Steph all that much anymore. A couple of years after Lailie was born and Henry was on his way, we started the Christmas Dinner tradition. Every year, it reminds me more of how 'old' we've gotten. Rather enjoying watching the kids play with their new toys than go out and 'play' ourselves. The old LDB days seem to be long gone. I have to get the guys to 'hang out' like we used to do in college. Poker night, maybe a LDB revival. We have to do it fast or the next opportunity would be Finn's bachelor party. Well, if he ever finds the guts to pop the question. I know he's had the ring for quite some time, he just never has the nerve to get down on one knee.

Watching my wife hurry through the house, checking every closet and every cabinet for some kind of special table cloth, I wonder, if I should feel sorry for him or tell him to sell the ring.

Nah, it's definitely worth it!

"Logan! Stop sitting there like a no good. Do something! Stop staring around! Colin, Steph, and the boys will be here in 20 minutes!"

I get up and take the silverware that she put out on the breakfast counter. Things we do for love…

Five minutes later, she bans me from the dining room, telling me to go sit with Lailie. Apparently I didn't use the right silverware. Only God knows what's going on in women's heads.

Lailie is snuggled into a corner of the big couch in the TV room which is right off the kitchen. Her head is laying on the armrest.

I go and pick up Mr. Bear who has fallen underneath the coffee table and hand him to her.

"Thanks, Daddy." She sighs and stares back at the TV where the end credits just start rolling in.

"What did you watch, Pix?" I settle in the opposite corner and pull a little of her blanket over to cover my feet.

"It was boring. It was about how Santa made animals talk and taught this pig to fly and the cow to sing. Pigs can't fly and cows can't sing. Stupid."

I take the remote and switch everything off.

Sighing again, she takes the blanket and Mr. Bear and crawls across the couch to sit on my lap and cuddle against my chest.

"Hey, Daddy?"

"Ya, Pix?"

"Did Mommy kick you out of the dining room again?"

I chuckle.

"Yeah, she did."

"I knew it!" Pixie's giggle is the cutest giggle in the world.

"Hey, Pixie?"

"Ya, Daddy?"

"Do you like Christmas so far?"

"I don't know…"

"Huh?" That surprises me. "What do you not like about this Christmas?"

"I didn't like how you and Mommy were mad at each other last night and how Grammy yelled at you and how Mommy yelled at Grammy."

"I'm sorry about that, Pix. Mommy and I just had a little misunderstanding. Do you know, what a misunderstanding is?"

She shakes her head.

"A misunderstanding is, when somebody tells you something, but doesn't tell you all about it. And then you assume it was one way, when it was actually all different."

"Hm, like when Sara told me she didn't have time to play with me. I saw her later in the park with another girl and thought she had a new best friend. And when I went up to her to tell her I didn't like her any more, she said the girl was her cousin who came to visit her and that's why she didn't have time to play with me. Is that a misunderstanding?"

"Exactly. And you remember the feeling you had when you thought Sara had a new best friend?"

"Yes, I was sad. And I was mad because I didn't want her to have a new best friend."

"See, that's how I felt last night."

"You didn't want Mommy to have a new best friend?"

I laugh.

"No Pixie, it was a little different, but almost the same. I was sad and mad at Mommy because she didn't tell me everything she should have told me. Like Sara should have told you before that she didn't have time because her cousin was visiting her."

"Ah! I get it. But you're not mad at Mommy any more, are you?"

"No, Pix, everything is fine."

"Good!"

"Daddy?"

"Ya, Pix?"

"Do you think Uncle Finny got me a kitten for Christmas?"

"Well, Pix, I do-"

Phew! Saved by the doorbell.

"I'll get it" I yell, hoping that Rory heard me. "Come on Pix, I believe Colin and Steph are here. You like playing with Henry and Jack, right?"

She takes my hand, walking over to the front door. "Well, sometimes I like it. But Daddy, they are such babies!"

Suddenly she stops dead in track. "I don't wanna play with babies tonight."

I stop and pick her up, putting her over my shoulder cave man style. Giggling she throws her small fists against my back and struggles with her legs.

"Let me down, Daddy, let me down!"

"No way, Pix."

I still have her over my shoulder when I open the door to reveal Colin and Steph. Looking down, I see a pink faced Henry and even further down a popped up dark blue snow suit with a faux fur hood under which I assume Jack is hidden.

"Hi guys! Welcome! Merry Christmas!" I lean over the tiny snow suit people to kiss Steph's cheek, ignoring the yelling bundle on my shoulder.

"What happened to her?" Colin asks as he picks up some bags and looks at Lailie.

"Her? Well, you know, kids."

I finally let her down when the gang is inside and she stares at me with a red face. "I despise you!"

"Whoa, where did you learn that word?" She ignores me and turns to Colin and Steph.

"Hi Uncle Colin, hi Aunt Steph." As she turns back towards me, without giving our guests any kind of chance to greet her, I can barely stop her from kicking my leg.

"Pix, stop it! What was that for?" I question as I kneel down to her.

"I don't wanna play with them!" she hisses and throws a scorning glance at Henry and Jack who are currently being unwrapped by their parents.

"But Pix, you always liked playing with them."

"But not any more."

Sighing I say: "Please, do it for me. I promise you they will be nice."

Pouting, she stalks off.

"Anything wrong with her?" Steph asks as she hands me her coat and Jacks fur thingy.

"Well…" Is anything wrong with her? "You know, we got home late last night, then she was up early today because she was so excited. I guess she's just tired."

"If you say so…"

Just in that moment Rory enters the hallway from the living room.

"Hey you two! I just heard your voices, though I didn't hear the doorbell… Did you find everything ok?" She walks over to Steph to give her a hug and then to Colin to get a kiss on the cheek.

"Well you know, Rory, Miss Stephanie over there, thought that she would know the way to your new house way better than my navigation system. Well, apparently she didn't and we drove around the neighborhood for like 20 minutes. We already had a safety patrol car following us!"

Laughing, I slap his shoulder.

"You know, Colin, never trust a woman's coordination instinct. It might kill you."

"Oh, wasn't there the one time, where you guys drove down to DC and Rory ended up in Philadelphia 'cause she didn't know how to work your navigational system and actually tried maps?"

"Stop it you two!" Steph's no-fun voice breaks our little walk down memory lane. "At least we didn't sink a yacht."

Please Rory, please… She doesn't have to know about this year's Easter vacation incident! "You know what Steph?" my beloved wife starts, and I inhale deeply, knowing what is about to happen. She takes Steph's free arm, the other one is occupied by Jack, who looks a little sleepy, and leads her over to the living room.

"Actually, my darling husband sank another one, just last…" her voice trails off as they get further into the house.

"Women." Colin shrugs with his shoulders. "You make one tiny teasing comment and you won't live it down for rest of the evening."

Picking the bags up again he adds: "See, she did all this shopping and wrapping and all that stuff, and guess who gets to carry these stupid things around! Henry you want to help Dad?"

Henry smiles sweetly and picks the smallest bag up.

I chuckle and look at father and son. "Right Colin, train them while you still can!"

He rolls his eyes.

"By the way, I'll go and check on my mad little princess. Please follow the chitchatting voices into the living room and please keep the women from plotting anything against us."

Shaking his head he leaves towards the chatty voices, Henry trailing behind him, imitating Colin's walk.

In about seven months I will have a boy just like that. Well, it better be a boy. I wonder if Rory already told Steph. At the speed the two of them are talking, they might already be talking about nursery decoration.

I find Lailie sitting in her big reading chair in the playroom.

"What's up, Pix?"

"Don't wanna talk to you." She scoffs and looks away.

"Why is that?"

"You just want to make me play with the babies."

"I won't make you play with Henry and Jack. But they are our guests and you always liked to play with them. Why not any more?"

"They are babies!"

"But Pixie, your new baby brother will, obviously, also be a baby. Will you not play with him either?"

Quiet, but then: "I will play with him, 'cause he will be my baby brother and a lot cooler than Henry and Jack."

"Oh yeah, of course, your brother will be the coolest baby in the word. Should we look for baby size sunglasses and baby size leather jackets on the internet?"

She finally smiles.

"There is no such thing, Daddy!"

"Of course there is! When you were born, you were my little princess. We got you a very pretty white dress and a little crown and you were the most beautiful baby in the entire world."

Again sweet Pixie giggles.

"And if we want to make Junior the coolest baby in the world, we have to get him sunglasses and a leather jacket. Or, wait, you know what?"

"What, Daddy?"

"He won't need it, 'cause being your brother already makes him the coolest baby in the world!"

Giggling and smiling she jumps off the chair and runs to the door.

"You coming, Daddy?"

Lailie skips into the living room, singing some kind of la-la song. Apparently Ace hasn't told them about Junior yet since Steph is talking, or rather ranting, about Henry and pre-school interviews when I enter behind my daughter.

Everybody turns their head at the little hyper girl.

"Hey Lailie, you ok again?" Steph stops her rant to talk to her.

"Was she not ok earlier?" Rory looks between Steph, dancing Lailie and me.

"Well, let's say our daughter was a little grumpy earlier."

"Huh, how about that… What changed her mood?"

"My little brother is going to be the coolest baby in the whole world because he's my little brother!" Lailie babbles.

"Ha I knew it!" Steph gasps, jumps up and gives Rory a hug. "I knew it from the moment I saw you! You have that soon-to-be-mommy glow about you!"

As I sit down next to Colin, we watch the hugging, squeezing, and squeaking that is going on a few feet down the sectional.

"And I always thought that all this make-up makes them glow…" Colin mumbles, as we keep staring at the 'girls'. He drags his eyes away and pats my shoulder.

"Well done, man, well done. You managed to make a little Logan this time?"

Laughing I answer him. "Well, we don't know yet. And Ace threatens that I won't before the baby is actually born, 'cause you know… Ace and her 'I-don't-want-to-know-my-baby's-gender' talk. But I really wouldn't mind some male enforcement and you heard it, Pix is all set for a baby brother. She won't even think about the baby sister alternative. She asked Santa for a baby brother and that's what she's going to get."

"Ha!" He grins. "So the old guy was involved, huh?"

"Well, I hope not actively…" I smirk.

"Ew… Well, it's your wife! I just hope…" He stops.

"What, man?"

"I just hope that your pregnant lady won't make my non-pregnant lady want to have another child. She's been talking about wanting a girl ever since the day she found out that Jack was going to be a Jack and not a Jackie."

I take my eyes from the ladies and find Lailie sitting at the chair next to the fireplace playing on her computer.

"Colin, believe me, you wouldn't want to miss it. A man needs a son, that's for sure, but daughters are so… well 'cool', they make you do stuff you never thought possible."

"Man, Logan, you've got it bad!" He laughs at me and I lean back into the cushions.

I admit that she's got me wrapped around her pinkie, but I wouldn't want it to be any different.


	12. Strawberries

We would have started dinner an hour ago if it weren't for Finn and Miranda to be late. I couldn't imagine it when we left the Dragonfly Inn in the early afternoon hours but I'm actually hungry by now.

Rory is giving Steph the grand tour of the house. Of course they are not checking the rooms for a suitable nursery, no, they wouldn't do that!

I know better.

There are only three rooms upstairs, besides the master bedroom and Lailie's bedroom, the playroom, the home office and the guest room. The playroom will be needed more then ever, so that can't go. We actually need the guest room for when both of us are gone and Anna needs to stay overnight with Lailie or for actual guests. So there's another big no-no. And Ace loves the home office since it has these really big windows and she always says that room gives her space to think.

Well, apparently we'll have to add on to the house or move again. But we just moved here early this year!

I wonder why Ace agreed to the house if she was planning on another little one. Maybe she didn't think she'd get attached to the home office like that or, the sad alternative, she didn't expect to get pregnant anytime soon. Lucky for us, the latter didn't happen.

The ringing of the doorbell pulls me out of my thoughts. Finally! I was about to sneak into the kitchen and get myself some peanut butter and crackers.

Since Rory is still upstairs with Steph, Henry, and Lailie who is showing off her room, and Colin went to change little Jack, I'm the one to open the door.

"Thank God you're finally here!" I say while opening the door. The sight that awaits me confuses me.

"What happened to him? Did Finn see a Ghost?"

"Nah," Miranda says and gives me a hug. My eyes are still fixed on my friend. Finn still doesn't move. "He'll tell you later."

This is the first time I look at her.

"Oh my God! Miranda! What happened to your eyes?"

She makes a little meow sound.

"Oh no, right, I forgot. Finn told me, I didn't imagine it to be this bad!"

Her eyes are really puffy and all bloodshot, tears are running down her cheeks.

"I'm so sorry! I am so, so sorry!"

"Well, it's not your fault. First I wanted to call you and yell at you for making my boyfriend buy your daughter a cat and 'store' it at our house. I had already dialed your number when he eventually told me that it was his idea and you actually didn't know about it. Well, I listened to your talk this afternoon and I'm really happy you gave in, 'cause I wouldn't be able to live with that thing for another minute!"

I'm glad her vocal organs have not been impacted by the allergy.

"WHAT?" Finn suddenly yells. I cringe at the sudden sound from him. Miranda ignores it.

"Oh, don't worry, he's been doing that for about an hour now."

"What do you mean? He's been like that for an hour?" I look back at Finn, scared.

Miranda starts leaning with both hands against his back, pushing him in the foyer. And he actually moves.

"Well, actually he's been like this for an hour and a half. He started the 'WHAT?' thing like an hour ago."

"What on earth happened to him?"

"Oh, he'll tell you. Later. When he's able to."

I guess I have to accept whatever Miranda says. She has grown to be a Finn expert which is pretty convenient since she's his girlfriend. But it's funny that she actually understands stuff neither Colin nor I can follow even though we've been friends with him ever since he sat foot on the American continent.

"So…" I sill watch Finn suspiciously but try to focus on Miranda. If she thinks he's fine, he probably is.

"Where is the… Meow…" I whisper.

"Oh, you mean Strawberry?"

"Shhhh! Yeah, the, you know, thing."

Now she whispers, too.

"It's a cat, Logan. C A T, cat."

Rolling my eyes, I growl.

"I know what it is. I wanna know where it is!"

"Oh, she's in the car. I'm not going anywhere near a cat ever again in my entire life."

Good! She's not in the house. Yet.

Again, I get sidetracked by her swollen eyes.

"Miranda, did you drive here?"

"Yes, guess why it took so long! I could hardly see anything! I think I missed a couple of red lights but nothing really happened."

I shake my head and put her coat in the closet.

"So, what are we going to do about him?"

"Oh, I'll manage him. You go out to the car and get the cat and her stuff." Miranda says and starts pushing Finn towards the living room.

"What, me?"

"Yes!" She stops and hands me the car keys. "I just told you I'm not getting near that thing ever again and just in case you haven't noticed, it's freezing outside. Right now it's still warm in the car but not that much longer. She's in the trunk. Now go!"

How did Finn end up with such a dominating lady? No, actually she's not all that dominating. But I guess a stiff Finn and an allergic reaction to something that 'happened' due to his antics made her a little exhausted and she's not in for a discussion.

I get my coat and make my way outside. It is really freezing. Finn's SUV is parked right behind Colin's mini van. Inhaling deeply, which is a mistake due to the ice cold air, I make my way to the trunk and press a button on the key to open it.

There is the small wicker basket with a little iron 'gate' in front of a hole. All I can see is part of a yellow blanket hanging out the opening. I wish I'd taken a flashlight, the interior car light is not sufficient enough to actually see what's inside the basket.

When I pick it up, I feel something shifting inside. Jackpot! I guess this was not a dream.

A glance at the box in the trunk tells me that this is the cat's 'accessories' box. Another blanket, some dishes, a few cat foot cans, a bag of cat chow, and some toys.

The box jingles when I pick it up and put it under my arm. Box in one hand, cat in the other one, I close the trunk doors with a hip swivel that would make Elvis jealous and lock the car.

Was that a small meow sound I just heard? Making my way over to the back door, I try to balance the basket as good as possible. But it's pretty hard due to the constantly moving thing inside it.

I set everything on the bench in the mud room. What now? What am I supposed to do? I hate Finn. He goes and gets the kitten while I have to sneak it in since he's a mental nutcase. Thank you very much, former friend of mine.

"Logan, Logan where are you?" I hear Colin's voice coming from the hallway. I open the door a crack and peek through it, grabbing Colin and pulling him in the small room just as he passes by.

"Geez, man, are we having dinner mission impossible style? Have you seen Finn? What is up with him?"

Shrugging my shoulders at him, I nod towards the basket.

"Kind of mission impossible… Finn got my lovely daughter a cat for Christmas and since he's Mr. 'Talkative-reverse' right now and Miranda is allergic to cats, it's my honor to introduce it to Rory and Lailie."

"Fun! I'm out…"

"No, you go and open it!"

"The cage?"

"Yes, you go get that cat out."

"Fine."

We both kneel in front of the bench. Colin is about to unlock the little door, when we see two perky big blue eyes stare at us from the other side of the door. A little red and white paw moves through the bars.

Colin looks at me.

"It's red."

"I see that too, Colin."

"Is it a female?"

"Yes – duh, no wonder it's red!"

We look back to where the little kitten is nudging her nose at the door. Colin finally opens it and with a skillful move he lifts her up on his palm.

"Finn said her name is Strawberry."

"Ha, no wonder, she's strawberry blonde! Look how cute she is!"

We look at the small kitten for a moment or two.

Finally I say: "Colin, we need a plan."

We've got a plan. It's not going to work, but we've got a plan. Colin is convinced that Rory is going to love this little one. Well, I have to admit, she's really sweet and cute. While we were plotting the plan, she kept playing with a small ball I found in the box. Though we had to pull her from underneath a dresser when she followed it.

Act One: Pretend nothing is about to happen.

When I enter the living room, sans cat, I stumble upon quite an interesting scenery. Lailie is teaching Henry 'Twinkle, Twinkle' on the piano, Jack is asleep in the big chair and Steph and Rory are sitting on the coffee table, waving her hands in front of Finn's face, whose eyes are directed at my wife's deep v-neck, though his expression lets me assume that he's not actually looking at anything. Miranda, whose eyes are a lot less puffy than 20 minutes earlier sits next to Finn, browsing through a magazine, chuckling at the women's antics.

I sit down on the couch right across from Finn and run my hands over my face. This is gonna be a quite eventful evening.

From the corners of my eyes, I see Colin waiting around the corner of the living room doorway, something red moving in his hands. Nodding towards him, I'm ready for act two.

Act Two: Confront the main character (or rather her mother) with the conflict, using a third character to introduce it.

Colin lets Strawberry down and she gently sets her paws on the hardwood floor. Lailie is still occupied with Henry and the piano, so no interference from her.

I hope the cat lady won't go and hide underneath the couch. Ah, there she is, peeking around the coffee table.

A sudden sneeze from Miranda gets her all attention from Rory and Steph.

"You okay, Miranda?"

"Ya, Rory I'm fine!" She shakes her head. And the fun starts. Miranda sees cat, cat sees Miranda, cat jumps on Miranda's lap, Miranda growls and passes cat to the left, right on Finn's knees, cat recognizes Finn and crawls right up to his shoulder and snuggles against him, Finn 'wakes up' and starts giggling as cat tickles his neck.

"Stop it, Strawberry! You know I'm ticklish right there!" He moves his hand to pick her up, lays her in his lap and starts stroking her belly.

Steph and Rory have been watching, gasping with open mouths.

"So this is it!" Steph finally exclaims. "We just needed your cat to bring him back to life! Wow, we should have thought about this earlier… Though I didn't know you had a cat."

"Neither did I." Rory mumbles and slowly turns towards me…

All the sudden sleeping Jack in the chair next to me is a very interesting thing to look at.

"Logan, where-"

Thank God Finn interrupts her, by putting little Strawberry into her hands.

"See, Love, you couldn't know since she just got here!"

"Finn, you brought a cat?"

"Yes! And it's not just any cat. Her name is Strawberry and she's a pure blood British Short Hair cat, she's got a family tree and everything."

"Finn! It's red! Are cats supposed to be red?" Steph is looking at the furry thing smelling Rory's hand.

"Yes, Steph, the best females are red heads, I'd never buy anything but a red cat."

Of course Lailie dismissed her piano lesson with Henry as soon as the word 'cat' was mentioned. She kneels down in front of Rory, who's still sitting on the table, her eyes all big and excited.

"Uncle Finny! You got me the kitten you promised me!"

Act 3: Solving the conflict and 'dealing' with the consequences.

"Logan, did you know about this?"

I believe I forgot something in the kitchen but I'm afraid of the death glares Rory is sending my way.

"See, Ace… Ask Finn!"

"Love, your coward husband has nothing to do with this."

Coward?

"Little Miss Lailie asked her dear Uncle Finny for a kitten and Uncle Finny complied."

Still skeptical glances from Rory towards me but she turns her eyes back to Lailie who is now sitting on the couch, Strawberry laying on her lap, licking her paws.

Good job, Lailie, the beaming smile and sparkling eyes will make Mommy soft. The student is even better than the teacher.

"Fine!" Rory exclaims, rolling her eyes but smiling at the same time.

"She's really cute. It'll be a nice way for Lailie to learn about responsibility, something that Uncle Finny apparently missed…"

Ah, great minds think alike!

"What did you say, her name is Strawberry?"

"Yes love, ask Miranda why."

"Miranda?"

She puts her magazine down and looks at everybody. "Don't get me started! Guess who can be blamed for making me run around almost blind over Christmas! I love strawberries but this," she points her fingers at her face, "is exactly what happens if I eat strawberries. And apparently cats do the same, so her name is Strawberry."

"Ah, makes sense, I guess…" She looks back at Lailie and the cat.

"So, I guess we should go and have dinner. But where is she going?"

"Oh, she'll have to eat, too. Miranda, Honey, where did you put her dish?"

Miranda gets up with an evil smile on her lips.

"Go ask Logan, he's the one who got her and all the stuff from the car."

Kitchen, man, kitchen!

"Oh, I'll go and carve the turkey!"

I make a run for my life, my wife following me.

"Logan! You better come back here, right now!"


	13. Til Next Year

A/N: Last chapter guys :) Hope you enjoyed the story and have a great Christmas! Thanks for reading (and reviewing ;)!

Rory is still growling at me when everybody is gathered in the dining room. It's not a mad growling, it's more of a 'wait-what-I'll-do-to-you' growling. It's cute!

Finn is his old, 'normal', self. Nothing Finn does is normal, but his behavior is not stranger that on an average day. Although I still don't know what was up with him earlier.

Jack is sitting next to me in Lailie's old high chair and suddenly I remember why I constantly had to buy new sweaters when Lailie was his age. Half of his food magically finds its way on my right arm. The mashed potatoes add a nice yellow touch to my brown cashmere sweater.

Lailie and Henry occupy the large window seat, sitting Indian-style and eating a weird mixture of mashed potatoes with stuffing and gravy.

"So, lovely Rory, whom do we have thank for this amazing dinner tonight?"

"What, Finn, are you implying my wife can't make a home-cooked meal?"

Everybody chuckles as Rory starts pouting.

"You are mean! And, believe me or not, I made part of this dinner myself!"

Colin quickly glances over the table. "Please, Rory, do tell me what! So I can avoid it…"

Steph slaps his arm. "Colin! Rude!" Then adding, leaning towards Rory. "Don't worry about him. He doesn't even know how to work the dishwasher."

Now it's Colin's turn to growl. "Tiny teasing… you won't live it down…" I hear him mumble.

A few moments later, all you can hear is the clicking sounds of silverware touching plates and the Christmas carol CD supplying us with soft tunes since everybody is enjoying their food.

"Oh my God! You're pregnant!"

Suddenly Finn's Australian accent fills the room and makes everybody flinch and stop what they have been doing.

"Geez, Finn, give a girl some warning!" It's Rory who breaks the silence. "And Logan already told you yesterday."

Finn looks at her, shakes his head and starts making weird moves with his arms.

"No, not you! Although, you, too. But I don't mean you, I mean her!"

Colin swallows. "Steph, is there anything-"

"No, Colin. I'm not pregnant! Although, given that Rory is, we might want to-"

"No." He shakes his head strongly. "Don't even think about it!"

"Ha, we'll see who wins this discus-"

"No, it's not Steph!" Finn voices again. He turns his head, staring at Miranda who is sitting next to him.

"Miranda, are you pregnant!"

The woman in focus, by now everybody is staring at her, puts her napkin down and starts clapping her hands.

"Wow, Finn. I'm impressed. It took you only 3 hours to react to what I told you."

Very confused, but also very sincere, he looks at her.

"Miranda, darling, who did this to you?"

She stops clapping and gasps at him.

"No, wait, don't tell me!" He gets up and gets something out of his pocket before he moves his chair. Suddenly, he gets down on one knee.

"Please, lovely Miranda! Do me the honor and agree to marry me! I promise, I'll make you an honorable woman! I will love this child just like my own and I will not kill the guy that impregnated you and left. Please, Miranda, will you marry me?"

Opening the little box, he reveals the engagement ring that I've seen many times before.

Gasping Miranda has turned into irritated Miranda.

"Finn! Are you nuts?" She yells at him, he stares at her. With big cow eyes nonetheless.

"But, Miranda," he stammers, "I love you and I promise I'll accept this child as my own, no questions asked! Though, I'll kill that bastard…"

She's still yelling at him. "Finn! You are the father, you are the bastard! It is your child!"

Suddenly Finn is taken aback. His voice is almost squeaky when he speaks again. "My child? I'm gonna be a daddy?"

I hear how Colin groans from the other end of the table.

"Yes!" Miranda takes Finn's face in her hands. "Yes, you're gonna be a daddy! And yes, I will marry you, if that offer is still good. Or will you only marry me if someone else got me pregnant?"

Finn just stares off into space, still kneeling on the dining room floor, his face in Miranda's hands, still holding up the little ring box.

Sighing Miranda waves her hand in front of his face. "Please, Finn, not again!"

Taking the ring from the box, she turns towards us, the gasping crowd.

"Well, guys, he asked, I answered with yes, now I get to wear the ring, right?" Quickly she slips the ring on her left hand and leans down to kiss Finn.

"Yes, Honey, I love you, too."

Dinner is forgotten. The ladies jump at Miranda, pulling her arm to see the ring. The hugging and squeaking show from earlier plays again, only with three instead of two actors.

Again it is Colin, my partner in crime, who sits down next to me to watch the live exhibition of female anticipation and happiness.

"Well, Colin," I say, "guess who will have a really, really hard time of talking his wife out of getting pregnant again?"

His voice is almost whiny when he answers. "You know what? Actually the baby part is not the worst; it's the pregnancy that really wears me down! Both times I was pregnant with her, I had to puke in the morning, gained a lot of weight and you can't imagine those cramps I had when she went into labor…"

I just have to laugh at him. "Colin, you're such a sissy!"

Lucky for us, Finn doesn't need another 3 hours to come back to life this time. As soon as Colin and I pull him into the living room and put a drink in his hand, he's capable of speaking and expressing his thoughts.

"Wow. I'm going to be a dad!"

His smile spreads over his entire face. I've never seen Finn like this. Except for when we were at boarding school and he smoked that weird mixture… He thought that the headmistress was in love with him and he kept smiling like a clown, a really dumb clown.

"Wow, I'm going to get married…"

Suddenly the smile fades and he turns pale.

"I can't get married! What about all those women? All those red heads that are waiting for me? I can't commit to only one lady!"

He looks panicked.

"Finn!" Colin interrupts him and throws a pillow square at his face.

"Finn, buddy, you've been with Miranda for two years now. And as far as I know, the two of you are having a plain old commitment relationship. There are no more red heads waiting, Miranda is the only red head you've been seriously interested in for a long time. You love her, she loves you. Why can't you get married?"

"Because I'm too young! I haven't conquered the world yet! I'm not ready to settle down and get dragged into a life of mini vans and wedding anniversaries. I'm too young to be unhappy."

"What do you mean, Finn?" I raise my eyebrows at him, "do you want to say that married life equals unhappy life?"

He shrugs his shoulders.

"Forget it! Finn, Rory and I have been married six years and 279 days. Are we still is love? Yes. Do we fight? Yes. Do we make up again? Of course! And there are bad times but usually good times and even if times are rough, I wouldn't want to miss a single day with her. I'd say that every day I do not spend with Rory and Lailie is a lost day but never was a day I spent with them an unhappy day."

Colin nods absentmindedly and adds: "Finn, you've had that ring for a year now. Why did you buy it if you didn't want her to marry you? Why on earth did you ask her, if you didn't want her to say yes?"

Suddenly Finn jumps up and starts pacing up and down the room like a tiger. In my mind I see how in cartoons people wear off the flooring and fall through the ceiling of the room below whenever they are pacing.

Abruptly he stops, jumps over the back of the couch and leans back into the cushions.

"Gentlemen," he announces cheerfully, "I'll be a daddy and I'll get married. Both kind of scare the shit out of me right now, but I think this calls for a celebration!"

The look Colin and I exchange says 'let's just accept it before he turns even weirder'.

We are joined by the ladies a couple of minutes later. Miranda eyes Finn suspiciously but finds him in a very, almost too happy mood. But, just like everybody else, she simply accepts Finn's mood since it's way better than the previous 'mute' Finn.

With lots of champagne (real as well as fake) and lots of joy and laughter we celebrate two babies and one engagement.

Is it quite late when Colin returns from putting the boys to sleep in the guest bedroom and joins me at the door to bid Finn goodbye.

I'm quite happy that he is in a way better state than he was when he came to our house tonight. Finn claims that the three of us need to celebrate the recent developments again sometime, in a more manly fashion, meaning cigars and some decent scotch.

We agree to put some kind of plan together for New Years Eve, maybe take the ladies and kids to New York.

"Finn! Come on, move your butt over right now!" Miranda's voice echoes over the front lawn.

"Gentlemen, you have heard my lovely wife-to-be. Have a wonderful night. And Colin, have fun impregnating your wife!"

Finn turns around smirking and Colin is about to go after him but I pull him back into the house.

Laughing I say: "Colin, he's right! You know what? Let's make a bet!"

"A bet?"

"Yes! If Steph doesn't end up pregnant within half a year, I'll give you my new boat for your summer vacation."

"Logan, that's not fair!"

"Why not?"

"Because the only way I could stay away from her would be me working in California 'til summer."

"I'm sorry Colin. But you know what? I know a really good fitness center where you can lose all that baby fat…"

Lailie is still awake when I enter her room. She's sitting on the ottoman, watching Strawberry who is peacefully snoozing on the armchair, snuggled into the yellow blanket.

"Hey Pix, are you planning on sleeping on the ottoman tonight?" She giggles slightly and hushes at me.

"Strawberry is sleeping," she whispers in a very low voice.

"I know," I whisper back and pick her up. "And I know another little girl who should be asleep right now as well!"

She crawls between the sheets, eyes still focused at the cat, and I sit on the side of the bed.

"So Pixie, how do you like Christmas now?"

"I love it!" She beams. "First I get a baby brother and then I get a kitten! You're not mad at mommy anymore and Aunt Steph said that I was behaving like a great big sister when I played with Henry and Jack tonight."

"So everything is good?"

"Yes!"

"And Pix?"

"Yes Daddy?

"You know Strawberry is not a toy. She's a real cat! And you are responsible for her. You need to feed her and give her something to drink and make sure she's ok. Understood?"

"Yes Daddy, Mommy already told me! She also said that I'm not allowed to pull her and push her and put doll clothes on her and I'm not supposed to carry her around all the time cause she can walk and until she is bigger, I have to make sure that she won't fall off the stairs."

Wow, Rory seems to be a lot better at the talk, although I wonder where that doll clothes part comes from…

But I've got something to add.

"And Pix, no cat on the bed! She can sleep on the armchair or in her basket or wherever she wants to sleep but I don't want her to sleep on or in your bed. Clear?"

"Crystal clear…" she sighs and glances a last time at the sleeping cat.

Smiling she looks at me.

"Daddy, it was a great Christmas!"

"I think so too! Now, off to sleep! Sweet dreams Pixie!" Kissing her forehead I add: "I love you!"

"I love you too! And I'm really looking forward to next year's Christmas 'cause then my little brother will join us!"

"Yes, but that isn't 'til next year."

I'm happy how everything ended up this year. Rory and I will have to have the talk about keeping things from each other during the next couple of days.

Chuckling, I have to think about next years Christmas party with the boys and their ladies. There will be, probably, three little babies in attendance so chances are pretty high that next year Christmas will be just as eventful as this year. And I'll have to stock up on sweaters if Junior turns out to be anything like his big sister.

And we still have to think about the living arrangements.

But not now, not when my beautiful wife is laying next to me in bed, smelling like lemon shampoo, her head resting on my chest.

All of this doesn't have to be discussed 'til next year.


End file.
